The Strange Land of Namimori
by Aines445
Summary: Namimori is a weird place... or so I had realized. It didn't take me very long to reach that conclusion, especially since I got to experience a ridiculous situation right on my first day there. Even so, I had no choice but to deal with all its strangest residents and everything else that had come from them, which was definitely not easy for any normal person to do... (AU)
1. Chapter 1

**First words:**

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Hello, and welcome to this amazingly long fic; hopefully you'll find it a cozy 'place'! ^^

As you can see, this story will have a 'First Words' section, where I'll answer (mostly guest) reviews and add my opinions of the chapter while I'm editing it, since I'm super forgetful and don't say everything I'd like to in my Author's Notes. However, things are a bit different now: you see, I have re-written this chapter and, presumably, when you get there, the others as well; my comments won't be the same. So, I guess you'll get comments from the future me instead, which is pretty fun. This section also provides glossary for terms or references you wouldn't understand and a bit of a special feature that I call 'Fun Facts': it's exactly what it sounds like.

Whatever the case, I've been writing this story for more than a year, and as you've probably noticed, it's a freaking behemoth: with that in mind, I noticed how my current writing is way better than my old writing, and didn't feel like my earlier chapters represented the quality of my story. That's why I've decided to re-write them, and I'm pretty happy with my decision: it improves the story, and that's all I could ever ask for. Anyway, I hope you'll stick around for this story; any and all feedback is greatly appreciated too! ^^ Now, onto the glossary (forgive the really long First Words ^^'):

**-san = neutral, normal, polite;**

**-chan = cute, endearing, friendly; used for girls or children;  
**

**-kun = pretty much -chan except that it's for guys or for a junior in stuff like work positions or school (in this case, gender doesn't realy matter);**

**-sama = respectful, of a much higher status than you;**

**-senpai = senior in things like school, in other words, a grade above you;**

**(O)nii/ee-san/chan/sama = Older brother or sister; can also mean/be used for many other things, but in this story, that's what it'll be for in general.**

... Do forgive my poor explanation of honorifics ^^' Hopefully you were able to get at least the gist of it, if you didn't know about honorifics already!

**Fun facts:**

**\- The amount of times Hibari has bitten the fangirls to death throughout his years in Namimori for crowding around him is uncountable. So, to keep themselves at least somewhat safe, the fangirls have compromised on at least being a certain distance from him. This doesn't satisfy Hibari at all, but he already found that he was unable to get rid of them, no matter his methods, so he _kind of_ accepted it (emphasis on _kind of_). Sometimes, he bites them to death anyway, so the distance they put between him isn't really effective;  
**

**\- Despite what was written above, the fangirls don't even dare bothering him at school due to his feared position as the leader of the Disciplinary Committee. Besides, the other members wouldn't let them do that, which is admittedly bothersome for the fangirls.  
**

By the way:

_italics = thoughts, emphasis (emphasis in thoughts is written like _this_)_

**bold = intensity**

'...' = mocking tone, quotation marks

"..." = dialogue

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 1: I Just Saw a Super Hero**

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Namimori is a weird place... or so I had realized.

At first, as I walked through the streets with the simple intention of taking a walk, to release the stress of moving to a whole new location after the tiresome work of unpacking everything, it seemed like a pretty normal town. The scenery wasn't quite like my old city's, and the temperature wasn't as cold, but that was a good thing: I never liked the cold weather there anyway. Even so, it was obvious that Namimori wasn't what you'd consider 'special' by anyone's standards.

... Well, at least that was what I had initially thought. Naturally, after all of a sudden finding myself _squished by a swarm of rabid girls,_ I couldn't help but reconsider that first impression.

"Look, it's Hibari-sama!"

"Ah, Hibari-sama...! He looks so cool!"

_Who the hell is Hibari-sama...?! _I thought while attempting to escape the mountain of fangirls keeping me in place. From what I could see (which was limited to almost nothing), cars were struggling to pass, and the people were somehow able to swiftly go around the girls. _How can you go through this with a straight face?!_

As much as that bothered me, I had to get out of the strange predicament I was in, so I decided to (begrudgingly) ignore it for the time being. "Excuse me!" I shouted, but my voice could barely be heard with all the loud squealing, especially when I was right in the middle of the fangirls.

Noticing that they were all looking up at the sky, I did the same, albeit with a perplexed expression. I followed their gaze, only to find a teenage boy flying towards a certain direction, being propelled by purple flames. He seemed to be wearing a school uniform, but the sleeves of his jacket fluttered in the wind: on one of them was an armband, but I couldn't read what was on it due to the distance.

To top off all that complete absurdity, he was wielding tonfas (of all things), his eyes narrowed. _How... What the hell is going on?!_ Admittedly, he was fairly handsome, but that did not justify dying from lack of oxygen, tighly compressed within a swarm of squealing fangirls! _How is he just _flying around_ anyway?!_

"Help!" I heard a very high pitched voice, presumably from a child, screaming that in a panicked voice. "My cat, he... he can't climb down the tree!" _Are you seriously implying that all of this was just for saving your cat?! It's like some clichéd super hero movie, what the hell?!_ The only exception to that was that super heroes didn't have legions of fangirls following them around when they were saving the day!

... I couldn't take it anymore. "Out of my way!" After being subjected to so much nonsense, it was only natural to have such a reaction, as rude as it was; did politeness even matter in a situation like that? I shoved the fangirls in my way to the side forcefully, as they surely wouldn't hear or care if I asked them to step aside.

Some glared at me, others even protested, but I didn't care: it was their fault I had to do such a thing anyway! I certainly wasn't just going to stand around and surrender to my fate (of death)! Having to even kick one aside (she was being too persistent in getting 'the best view to Hibari-sama'), I miraculously managed to get out of the agglomerate of fangirls, only to see this Hibari person giving the cat to a little girl, who was teary-eyed from the incident.

"If this happens again, I'll bite you to death for negligence." I swear I saw some fangirls pass out in glee when he uttered that, but I was as white as paper. _What kind of thing is that to say to a little girl?!_ His _threat_ was not only weird but also completely intimidating.

Yet, somehow, I seemed to be the only one thinking that within the crowd of fangirls. "Okay!" The little girl smiled and nodded, taking the cat with her as she left.

"What the hell just happened...?" There were no other words that could describe what I had just seen: it was already amazing that I even had words to say in the first place.

I spotted vans parking in the vicinity as reporters and cameramen came out of them, rushing towards Hibari as if he was going to disappear at any moment. Hibari only gave them a glare, not even turning to them. They stopped approaching him at a fairly safe distance, the same one the fangirls were also taking: despite being rabid girls, they weren't that close to his area, as if there was a line one couldn't cross when chasing him around.

"Kyoya Hibari, do you have a minute?!"

"How is it that you can fly?!"

"Is the Disciplinary Committee never included in your super hero activities?!"

"How did you feel when you saved that cat?!"

There were more questions being thrown at the guy, but I didn't hear them all; it wasn't worth it. I nudged the closest fangirl and asked, "Hey, is this guy famous or something?"

The girl gasped. "You don't know Hibari-sama?!

_Why would I ever know this guy when I just moved here?!_ Even so, she didn't know my circumstances, and I wasn't about to tell her either: why did I have to justify myself anyway? "Well, not really..."

"He's the leader of the Disciplinary Committee of Nami-Middle and the town's super hero!" she excitedly explained, pure happiness in her voice. "Isn't he the coolest...?!"

I couldn't help but stutter, "T-the what now?"

"Didn't you hear me?! He's the leader of the Disciplinary Committee..." I zoned out of what she was saying and stared at what was happening with the so-called 'super hero' instead.

That 'super hero' was threatening the reporters with his weapons for 'crowding', making them back off in fear as he flew away. When he did so, many fangirls actually started running after him, as if they had any chances of catching up to someone who could _fly._

In fact, the girl that had been explaining everything to me did the same, but turned to me a bit afterwards and shouted, "Aren't you going too?!" _Uh... after a flying super hero? No thanks._

I guess she was trying to be friendly, but I was not in any mood to befriend anyone, especially if she had contributed in some way to the swarm of fangirls. "I'll pass!" I responded while heading for the opposite direction, not wanting to show her the absolute confusion that my expression was conveying.

If she had even said anything back to me, I didn't know, but I was pretty sure that this event was a warning for me to expect weirder things from Namimori.

And that was a warning I should've heeded...

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

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_"So this is the start of a wonderful series (This is where you should laugh by the way) surrounding the weird stuff happening in Namimori!"_\- My Author's Notes, 2014

I couldn't have said it any better... in the future. Uh, what? X.X

Anyway, re-writing this chapter took way longer than I thought, but it was totally worth it! The writing is way better than before, since I've definitely improved in more than one year. Observer-chan actually freaked out way less than I thought in this chapter, where she was supposed to have completely flipped tables: so, I fixed that. I also made the chapter's events flow better than before, so I'm pretty proud of that.

Reading through my previous comments makes me feel nostalgic, as in, "What the hell was I thinking when I wrote that?" Somehow, that kind of feeling makes me smile ^^' At first, I thought this story was going to be crack, I seriously did: I mean, it's about a huge bunch of random things with someone sane reacting to them, so it made sense for me to consider it that. However, my initial concept, which involved no plot, immediately crumbled apart when I realized that I wouldn't enjoy something like that.

So, this story became just a very ridiculous comedy, but I don't regret it in the slightest; it's better this way. You might be wondering why Hibari can just let out Dying Will Flames without any ring but honestly, this has been proved possible in cannon (by Bluebell, who could just make it happen) so it's not that much of a big deal that he somehow learned it himself... okay, it is, but you're not supposed to think that! Whatever the case, the _real_ reason I made him fly was because there wouldn't be a point to him being a super hero without him being able to fly around XD

Also, you may be wondering why I decided to have an OC in this story: that's really because an OC would be unbiased towards anyone (unlike Tsuna, who has a crush on Kyoko, for example, and has always been a resident of Namimori), and Shouichi was also off-limits for... special reasons (I don't wanna spoil them). Anyway, she is completely necessary for the story and I like narrating as her a lot, so she's sticking around: hopefully you'll like her?


	2. Chapter 2

**First words:**

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"_**I HAVE TWO FAVORITES AND 3 PEOPLE FOLLOWING THIS KYAAAAAAAAH FUCK YESS**** ASTUDFIASBYTUIFNLAYBTFK**__**-**_" - First Words of former Chapter 3, 2014_**  
**_

I still feel that way every time this story gets favorites and followers, but I act cool about it now and just cheerfully announce it instead of fangirling ^^' At this point of the story, this got 2 favorites and 4 followers, which is awesome! But, you're probably wondering why I have a quote from Chapter 3 in Chapter 2, and there's really a simple reason for this: Chapter 3 got merged with Chapter 2!

I did that because those two chapters were really short and were basically connected (they happen on the same day), so having them be two separate things only slowed the story down. It flows better now! It's been re-written too, so yay for my current writing (which hopefully you'll find at least decent)! As for the Fun Facts, there will still be only two of them, so I'll have to pick which ones I like the best and keep them around for this chapter... or write better ones, which I'll also be doing.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Haru does know pretty much everyone, but most just don't remember her or _pretend_ they don't remember her. It's quite sad, really;**

**\- In this story, Haru and Kyoko got to know each other much earlier than in the actual series (as in, even before Haru's formal introduction there): this is because Haru went up to her, and Kyoko didn't mind suddenly being approached so they had a nice chat. After that, they became fast friends, often hanging out together (with Hana too, as she was already best friends with Kyoko to begin with).  
**

Anyway, enjoy!

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**Chapter 2: Tempting Sweets and Lingering Mist  
**

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It was only my second day in Namimori and I was already afraid of what would happen to me. _I won't have to go through that again, will I?_ As much as I wanted to dismiss the events of yesterday as a dream, there was no way that could ever be the case when that day (Sunday) had actually passed.

I left my house as I thought of that, shuddering. Today was going to be my first day in Namimori Middle School, the school I had transferred to. Knowing that the fangirl I talked to told me that super hero guy was its 'leader of the Disciplinary Committee' or whatever, there was no way I could ever look forward to going there.

Even so, I couldn't just tell my mother that I didn't want to go to my new school because _I literally saw a super hero,_ so I reluctantly started walking.

"Hello there!" It wasn't long before I suddenly got called by a cheerful-looking girl, wearing another school's uniform. She ran towards me energetically with a smile and when she got to me, panted tiredly in an exaggerated manner. "Good morning! It's rare seeing someone I don't know about, so I decided to greet you! My name is Haru, nice to meet you!" She was energetic again, staring at me expectantly with a smile on her face.

_What do you mean, 'it's rare to see someone I don't know about'...? _I tilted my head to the side, visibly confused. "Uh, sure... Nice to meet you too, I guess." Despite saying that, I didn't think it was nice at all to meet her, especially when she had just approached me all of a sudden.

"You're new to Namimori, aren't you?" she asked, seemingly confident with that guess.

I awkwardly nodded. _Is it _that_ obvious?_ It wasn't obvious to that one fangirl I talked to, but maybe Haru was more perceptive than she looked.

Suddenly, Haru wore a surprised expression, as if realizing something. "Hahii!" _'Hahii'?_ "That's right! You must be the girl that was transferring to Namimori Middle School today!" _How did you know that?!_ "No wonder you seemed so confused! It must be tough getting used to a whole new location!"

"Y-yeah," I simply uttered, stunned by her words. _What else does this girl know...?_

She became determined after listening to my lacking response for unknown reasons; I simply stared at her blankly. "If that's the case, then there's no need to worry! I live really close to you so if you have anything you'd like to know about Namimori, you can just ask me!" _Wait, how can you say you live close to me if you don't know where I live?!_

_... Or do you _actually_ know where I live...?_ "Better yet, I'll call you so you can get to know my number!" she happily exclaimed, implying that she _also_ knew my phone number. "Then you can ask me anything, whenever you want! I'll tell you all about what's _dangerous_ and what's not!"

Although it seemed like she was looking out for me, I couldn't help but feel disturbed at how she apparently knew things she was definitely not supposed to. _Why did you have to butcher an English word anyway?_ Or, at least, I was pretty sure 'dangerous' was an English word. Besides randomly spouting English words, she also spoke in third person (which would be passable if not combined with everything else), and uttered strange sounds: it was very easy to tell she was somewhat of a quirky person.

Even so, I couldn't just be rude to someone that seemed to have good intentions and kept up such polite speech (despite the other weird speech patterns), and she did look like she knew a whole lot about Namimori. With that in mind, I said, "Uh, sure, I'll keep that in mind, Haru." I didn't even think of giving her an appropriate honorific, as I was still somewhat stunned: it had already taken me a fair amount of effort just to say all of that to her.

"Great!" she cheerfully exclaimed. _Is it, really?_ I still had my doubts, like any normal person would in such a situation: Haru seemed to know way too much for her own good, if her claims were even true.

If so, I couldn't just trust her: in fact, I didn't trust her at all. "Well, I'll be leaving now... since I have school, and all that," I said, taking a few steps back so as to prove my point. Although she did look like she had good intentions, and that her information would come in handy, I'd preferrably not want to see someone so strange ever again.

... Even then, she could probably knock on my door if she felt like it seeing as she apparently knew where my house was! "Hahii, I'll be late too!" She seemed agitated, as if she had totally forgotten about school. "I'll see you later!" She started running, only to stop and turn to me again. "Oh, and please don't hesitate to call when you get my number: I can give you a tour of Namimori and tell you the best sweet shops if you'd like!"

She waved at me before going back to dashing to her school, or so I assumed. I simply stared at her as she went, unsure of what to think of my encounter with the strange girl named Haru.

**. . .**

I sighed as I started walking to school, having already faced something weird the moment I stepped out of my house. _Well, sweets sure _would_ be nice now... but I'm not sure if I want to ask her about them._

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

My first day in school actually went much better than I thought: although my class' impression of me seemed rather indifferent, I met no super heroes and that was enough to rejoice about. Even so, I did wish I had gotten to know somebody in my class to hang out with: since I transferred in the middle, or even close to the end of the year, everyone was already in defined groups; it was admittedly awkward to approach them. _Maybe I'll try tomorrow..._

I didn't want to be alone for the rest of the year, after all. Since classes were over, I left the classroom, only to then hear my cellphone ring: the ringtone indicated that it was a message so I took my phone out reluctantly, having a hunch on who it could be from. _Please don't let it be—_

"Hello! It's the All-Knowing Haru!"

_Of course it is... _Not even bothering with questioning the inclusion of 'desu' after her English 'hello' and just the overall ridiculous introduction, I kept on reading:

"I finally got your number ;_; It was really hard to find since I didn't have your name."

_'Finally'? It's already amazing you even found my number! And wait, didn't you already have it or were you that sure you'd find it right away?!_

"Anyway, as I said, if you have any questions you can always call me! I hope we'll become good friends! :D"

**. . .**

... I stuffed my phone back in my school bag and started walking again. _Let's just pretend I didn't see that..._

Unfortunately, my lack of attention to my surroundings due to the message made me bump into someone. "Sorry," I said and looked at the person in front of me.

It was a girl with short, light brown hair, and she was wearing the school's uniform (what else would she be wearing to school?). "It's okay, I was spacing out too." She smiled cheerfully at me, not wanting anyone to take the blame for what had happened. I found such an action respectable, so I smiled back at her. "Ah, aren't you the transfer student? Haru-chan sent me a message about you just now."

My smile immediately disappeared. _Of course I had to find the All-Knowing girl's friend, just great! Or does she just tell everyone what she knows...?_ "My name is Kyoko Sasagawa, nice to meet you." Even if she apparently was a friend of Haru's, she seemed fairly normal.

Actually, scratch that: she seemed like the kind of person who'd be really popular, having this sort of 'warm' aura about her, as strange as that sounded. "Uh, nice to meet you too," I said. _Maybe she's actually alright?_ "So, you're Haru's friend?" I decided to ask, just to clarify that assumption.

"Yeah," she answered brightly, "She gives me all sorts of interesting information, and we hang out pretty often." I wasn't at all surprised with Kyoko's words as I stared blankly at her. _Interesting information as in, information you shouldn't be knowing?_ "She tells me all about the best sweet shops too~!"

_You both must really like sweets,_ I thought, but I was honestly in no position to point that out; I really liked them as well. "I see," I simply said. _Sounds fun, especially when the only thing I can do right now is taking walks._ Taking walks was great, but I knew that after a while, I'd get bored and lonely. Calling my old friends and talking to them was nice but it wasn't the same, and there was no way they could visit me every day (it would also be really selfish of me to want such a thing).

I reminded myself of Haru's words, as she seemingly wanted to be helpful to me; she was also friendly. I mean, she was really weird and knew way too much for my peace of mind, but she didn't seem to mind being my friend and that was what I needed in Namimori. Besides, going up to the clearly defined groups of friends in my class was not going to be an easy task for someone like me, and I knew it: I'd probably delay it until I'd reach extreme boredom; I was definitely going to regret that.

I stared at Kyoko, who was smiling cheerfully at me; she seemed nice. She was also friends with Haru, so surely spending time with them wasn't going to be so bad. Who else did I have anyway? No one. "That... sounds nice," I started, "Can I come with you next time?"

She seemed slightly surprised by my question, but smiled afterwards. "Sure! I was actually planning on inviting you, so I'm really glad you asked instead." _You were?! Then my question was for nothing! _She threw me off guard at first, but as I thought of it, she did get a message from Haru about me, so she'd know me: not only that, but she also introduced herself to me despite the fact that I had just bumped into her. The fact that it had started to seem plausible in my head made me feel like I had just experienced an amazing coincidence; I wasn't sure what to think of that. _I mean, if I hadn't bumped into her, what would've happened?_

Was I simply going to be approached, or was she never going to find me? "I'll tell Haru-chan and Hana about this, okay?" Kyoko said. Whoever that Hana person was, she was most likely in Kyoko's circle of friends, so I mentally took note of that name. "See you tomorrow!" She kept her smiled as she waved at me despite the fact that I wasn't far away from her and she wasn't stepping away either.

"...Huh?" As she did so, _mist_ surged from her as she faded away, the mist spreading about in the hallway. **"Huh?!"** Kyoko had disappeared, somehow only leaving mist behind; there were no signs of her. _What the— Just how— Why...?!_

My brain couldn't process it, but at least one thing was certain: Kyoko was _not_ a normal girl.

_What have I gotten myself into...?_

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

In these notes, I did a summary of Observer-chan's personality, since I wanted you to better understand her thought process. However, after thinking about it, I've decided I don't need that: throughout the story, you'll get to know her just fine, so I won't go about describing her here. I'll leave one quote though:

"_She will be the unfortunate (or fortunate, depending on your perspective) person to meet almost every single character in the series and suffer through it all._" - Author's Notes of former Chapter 2, 2014

Yes, yes she will. Anyway, I was actually prompted to merge chapters together by a reviewer, who said they were bored and that to make impatient readers stop getting bored, I was better off merging them. I... agreed with this person, and realized that was also the source of my story's slow pace: with that in mind, I heeded their advice, and I think it's really improving the story. Even so, I have to disagree with one thing that reviewer told me, and that's the claim that the story delves into pointing out normal things in classmates beyond the first and (former) fourth chapter:

... Well, unless you have a resident master information-gatherer and resident master illusionist in your class, I can't quite see that being true. So yeah, wonderful advice, but master illusionist doesn't scream out 'normal' to me. Whatever the case, yeah, Haru's a master information-gatherer and Kyoko's a master illusionist, if you couldn't tell. It's weird, sure, but Hibari's a super hero: could this get any weirder?

Actually, it can, but I'm not spoiling you 8D You may also be wondering why I made Kyoko of all people a master illusionist, when it doesn't seem like it would fit her at all: that's because apparently, in the card games, she was assigned _Mist Flames,_ which totally surprised me because Kyoko's not that kind of girl. Either way, I thought that would be a hilarious idea so I just went for it, and that made Illusionist!Kyoko, one of my favorite changes in my whole story. Haru as an information-gatherer really fits, somehow, doesn't it? I don't remember how I came up with it, but I also really like the idea. You must've noticed how I didn't write her completely according to her speech patterns: this was because it didn't look good in English, so I decided to mention it instead.

As for the changes I made, I made this flow better, and I made the events of (former) Chapter 3 make sense: before, it was pretty anticlimatic, and things happened for no reason. I also made Observer-chan's reactions more appropriate and, of course, improved the overall quality of the narrative. Hopefully it's nice now ^^ Look forward to the next chapter?


	3. Chapter 3

**First words:**

* * *

_"You're jealous of my wings, aren't you?_

_They flutter elegantly~,"_ \- Byakuran, in 'Perfect World' (one of his character songs)

God damn you, Byakuran XD

... Oh wait.

Jokes aside, I've gotten back to listening to KHR's character songs, which I hadn't done in a while: this resulted in me listening to those lyrics and made me laugh in the nostalgia of KHR. Oh, and Byakuran too, he was an entertaining guy. By the way, at this point, the story had gotten 1 favorite and 1 follower 8D Whatever the case, this chapter is a really bold choice: I admitted that in the past, and still think that to this day. It's also still what I consider the weirdest change I've made but honestly? I don't regret it one bit. In fact, that change was what brought about the most original ideas from this story plot-wise, even if it also complicates things at the same time.

Anyway, it makes for a great challenge I have to overcome so, as a writer, I don't mind it at all... mostly. Also, the past me put up a disclaimer in this chapter: damn, I was stupid back then. In the same way there will be no trigger warnings, there shall be no unnecessary disclaimers! Except the one about me _not owning KHR._ There you go, now I'm safe ^^ Another thing that I noticed is that one of my Fun Facts in here alluded to an idea I used to have for the Arcobaleno: I don't have it anymore, so I obviously took it out, but it's really amazing how much I'm reminiscing with all this re-writing stuff.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Observer-chan's activities in the computer are really just talking to old friends in social networks, listening to her own music and surfing the internet but beyond that, she only has practical uses for it. If you think about it, a personal computer is kind of a waste on someone like her since she's an outdoors person (unlike her parents);**

**\- Speaking of them, her mother was actually still awake because she likes seeing TV shows that are only on at that time of the night; her father wasn't.  
**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 3: I Just Met God  
**

* * *

It was nighttime so, naturally, I was already home. I was in my bedroom, turning off my computer as I reminded myself of the recent developments in my new life in possibly the weirdest town ever. _Today was as weird as always... But I haven't met that Hana girl yet, I wonder how _she's _like?_ According to Kyoko, she was absent from school because she was sick, which was why I hadn't met her.

It had been a few days since I had decided I would start hanging out with Kyoko and Haru, and it was going... decently well, at least in the standards I had for them (they weren't very high). As expected, they were a strange bunch, but they were nice and friendly so I would try my best to gloss over the ridiculous parts, if I could.

... In other cases, I had Kyoko disappear on me and that wasn't very easy to ignore, especially when I had no idea as to how she would do that; Haru was also very eccentric. Basically, they were weird, but I had no one else, so I found myself having to deal with that. I sighed just from thinking about it and, with a frown, I stood up from my chair and walked over to my backpack, since I had to get everything ready for the next day.

However, as I got there, I suddenly started feeling really drowsy. "Hmmm...?" I couldn't keep my eyes open, no matter how hard I tried. _Was I this sleepy before...?_ Due to this, I decided to just go to bed, since I was apparently in no condition to get things ready beforehand. _I guess I'll... do it in the morning..._ I couldn't even think straight as I walked over there, my legs feeling heavy with each step I took.

As I got close to my bed, I collapsed, finding myself unable to move. With that, I realized that I was not sleepy, but passing out: I immediately felt alarmed at this, but couldn't do a single thing about it; I was unable to voice anything out. As my surroundings darkened until I could no longer see anything, my consciousness faded away from me...

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

Before I new it, I was on the floor of a location I had never seen in my life. "What...?" I mumbled as I rose my head only slighty and took note of my completely white surroundings: there were patterns engraved into the walls which had a flower theme to them, but no specific flower came to mind when seeing them. Beyond that, everything was completely clean, and had a somewhat futuristic look to it I couldn't quite place (despite the flower theme).

"Hello, and welcome to Heaven~!" I immediately stood up to identify the source of that cheerful-sounding voice, a clearly and visibly panicked expression on my face. _Heaven?! What?! _"To be more specific, you're in my home; it's still the afterlife though."

I covered my eyes from the sudden bright light I had noticed in front of me, but slowly took out my hand just so I could see who exactly had talked to me. Covering some of the light coming from the wall was actually a big, futuristic-looking chair (or even a throne) of sorts that admittedly seemed comfortable, but it was also occupied by someone. "The... afterlife?!" I reacted as I took in the odd appearance of the young man (who was either in his early-twenties or less) in front of me, sitting on that chair in a carefree manner.

"Exactly!" he answered with a very cheerful smile despite having practically told me I was dead, his eyes closed as he did so. He had white, spiky hair and a purple tatoo under his left eye; even so, that was not the worst part. What made his weirdness multiply by more digits than I'd ever like to count was the fact that he had wings, _actual white, feathered wings_ on his back. "Oh, but you're not dead or anything like that, I just called you here."

_... 'Just' called me? To Heaven?!_ "Yup! It's just as I said," he responded, even though I hadn't told him anything; I had been given no time to do so. It was as if he was answering my thoughts, which was disturbing in all possible ways and very unlikely at the same time. "Actually, I can hear all your thoughts so you don't have to bother coming up with an answer to say out loud; convenient, right~?"

I flinched at that. _Holy shit, this guy can** read my thoughts!**_ Just seeing that guy was enough of a reason to freak out, but the fact that he could tell what I was thinking made it even worse. "It also means you can't hide anything from me," he added, a devious smile on his face. I noticed that his eyes were open, revealing that they were lavender in color, matching his tatoo. "So keep that in mind." I gulped.

I didn't even know what exactly was going on, most of my responses being only reactions to the present situation: if I didn't take one thing at a time, my brain would most likely explode from just how ridiculous everything was. "Anyway, the reason I called you here was to tell you a few things." He raised one finger on his right hand, which had gone up so as to be more visible to me, being right on my line of sight. "First, you'll be meeting a lot dangerous people later on."

_... What?_ He raised another finger. "Second: since you're completely defenseless, you won't live through it for sure."

"Hey!" I protested, not wanting to be insulted by someone who made no sense.

_But wait, does that mean I'll die?!_ "If you calm down and listen, you'll know," he said cheerfully as another finger was raised, "Third: because of that, I've decided to help you~!" I simply stared at him confusedly, unsure of how to react as I saw him drop his hand back to where it originally was resting on. After all that I had experienced, it was admittedly hard to process everything, especially due to how unbelievable it all was; I wasn't even on Earth! "Basically, I'll be watching over you and when you get into trouble, I'll send down Holy Protection so you don't die; did that get through to you? This isn't that hard to process if you really think about it."_ Ugh, of course this guy notices that...!_

He chuckled, which only made me more pissed off. "But wait, what do you mean with 'Holy Protection'? And who are you?" I asked, not quite getting used to that 'you don't need to voice what you want to say' thing. There were still many questions I needed answers for, but I at least wanted to get those out of the way: I was not even sure if I was dreaming or not!

"It's a surprise~," he simply answered, his cheerful smile annoying me further. _Are you serious__...?_ "Of course: it wouldn't be any fun if you knew what exactly that entailed." _And that's what matters when you're supposedly making sure I won't die ever?_ "Isn't it better to have fun and not die at the same time? You've got a pretty dull mindset," he commented, keeping the same expression and carefree demeanor _even_ while insulting me; I glared at him. "Also, even if you have Holy Protection, you should look out for yourself since it's not like you've turned immortal or anything."

_Basically, I should be just as careful as always?_ "You caught on faster than I thought, that's nice~." He was implying that I was slow, and I wasn't liking that one bit. _Seriously, who the hell are you anyway?_ "Oh yeah, I did skip on telling you that, didn't I? Well, you can call me Byakuran; it's definitely better than just 'that guy', right? Nice to meet you!"

_Byakuran? That sounds oddly Japanese for a winged person in Heaven._ But then again, the whole situation was already weird beyond what my brain could process, so I couldn't bring myself to care more about that than just pointing it out. "By the way, this isn't a dream so don't dismiss it as something like that when you go back to Earth, okay?"

That... was going to be difficult, I noted. Actually, that was an understatement: it would honestly be weirder if I didn't immediately dismissed it as some sort of weird fantasy. I mean, meeting some sort of strange entity in Heaven that supposedly wanted to make sure I wouldn't die was more than ridiculous and far beyond the border of prepostorous: it was simply unbelievable.

Speaking of strange entity, I said, "Okay, but... what exactly are you?" I knew his name, but knew nothing about him: if he could call me to Heaven, then he surely belonged there. Even so, there were also the chances that I was being tricked and that I was actually not in Heaven, but the fact that he could _read my mind_ seemed convincing enough on that end. Either way, it was a complete mystery.

"Hmmm~? What am I, you ask~? I thought that was obvious," he said, his eyes focused on me as his smile turned slightly more eerie, "I'm God~."

**. . .**

**. . .**

_... What?  
_

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

"Hey...!" As I gained consciousness, I noticed my mother shaking me as she tried to get my attention. Not wanting her to continue doing so, I raised my head from the bed, feeling the marks of the sheets on my face. "Are you alright...?!" she asked, sounding genuinely worried for my well-being: I couldn't blame her, since she found me passed out halfway on the bed; that would make anyone alarmed.

Seeing as I was more aware of my surroundings, I finally realized that I was possibly in the most awkward position I had ever done: the upper part of my body was on the bed, my arms spread about while I was kneeled on the floor. Needless to say that wasn't very comfortable so I stood up, making my mother, who had been crouched down, stand as well. I got to see her concerned expression due to that, which wasn't very nice. Even so, I had other things on my mind, and they were taking very long to be processed.

My mother seemed to take note of my disturbed face so confusion was starting to be seen on hers as well, though that was completely justifiable. I did not move, and simply stared at her, my gaze unfocused. Then, I told her the only thing that came to mind:

"Mom, I think I just met God..."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Ah, this chapter. No, this time you won't get any quotes, but I think you'll see me quoting things often in this story since I've been feeling so nostalgic. Anyway, I fixed a bunch of things with this chapter: I improved its narrative, added more details, got it to flow better and last but not least, I made Byakuran's dialogue more in-character. Honestly, as I re-read my earlier chapters, I noticed that my earlier characterization of Byakuran wasn't very good, and regretted it deeply: even before I decided to go on this major editing spree, I was planning on at least re-writing Chapters 4 and 10 (in the former order). With that in mind, I did just that, so the dialogue's really changed for this chapter, and I think I'll be changing it for most, if not all of Byakuran's chapters as well.

So, was it surprising or was it surprising that Byakuran is _God_ in this fic? Yeah, when I said I considered this my weirdest change, I wasn't kidding; I don't think I can quite beat this one. Even so, that's what made this chapter so fun to write in the first place: seriously, when do you ever get to write Byakuran actually being God? Never! So playing around with the idea is a great feeling. Also, I've pointed this out (in future chapters), but Byakuran and Observer-chan work _really_ well off each other: while in the former version of this chapter, you couldn't feel it as much, you kind of can now. Seriously, those two can talk for hours, so I have to cut out things or they'll derail everything!

Whatever the case, you may also be wondering why this chapter happened: I won't tell you the plot-related reasons as to why it's here, but I'll totally tell you that this is so Observer-chan can survive every arc because everyone's still involved in the mafia in this story, meaning that they're super strong (the writing-related reason)! So yeah, there's still a Kokuyo arc and a Varia arc, and even a Future arc too (meaning that yes, Byakuran is totally evil here ^^)! But it'll be totally different from the actual one for obvious reasons... Anyway, Tsuna still has to deal with everything, and Observer-chan will be... observing (keeping her 'namesake'), so she needs protection for that, which is what she got.

As far as you should be concerned though, this story's set a few weeks before the Kokuyo arc so... look forward to that?


	4. Chapter 4

**First words:**

* * *

"_This got a review._

This got a review.

** THIS GOT A REVIEEEEWWWWWWW-**" - First Words of Former Chapter 5, 2014

At that point, this story had also gotten another favorite and a follower, to which I still feel amazingly grateful for. Although I write this story purely because I enjoy it, having people who want to read it also serves as a main motivation for me to stop procrastinating and doing it. Not only that, but I've noticed that most of the story's biggest developments originate from me reading reviews and giving deeper thought to my plot: seriously, if a reviewer hadn't told me, I might not have even started re-writing or merging chapters, it's honestly amazing! Also, early on I'd respond to user reviews by PM, which is why you don't see them at this point while much later, you see me answering every single review here; I just wanted to clear that up ^^

Anyway, have fun to the extreme?

**Fun facts:**

**\- Ryohei was, in fact, there when the events of the first chapter happened; he wasn't really in the fangirl swarm but he was close by. He was actually planning on saving that cat for the little girl, but Hibari beat him to it;  
**

**\- His grades in Math go from 7 to a maximum of 36 (he was quite proud of that grade too).**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Extreme Math**

* * *

Since I had recently found out Kyoko and Haru went through the same path as me, I went to school with them: unfortunately, Haru was from a different school, so we had to part with her midway. Due to that, I was alone Kyoko as we approached it; there were still no news of Hana.

"Ah, we're at school now! Time sure flies by before we know it..." Kyoko smiled sheepishly as she said that, stopping at the gates. Despite her strange, absolutely incomprehensible powers, she seemed to be somewhat air-headed: that would, in turn, make her even more unpredictable than I'd like.

Even so, she was nice and normal, if you'd go past that... which was pretty difficult. "Well, at least it didn't fly as far as the start of class or we'd have to run all the way to the classroom," I remarked with a casual tone, noticeably relaxed. _Finally, this is a normal situation: I'm walking to school with a friend! You can't go wrong there, so there's no way I can't have a nice and normal conversation now!_

I had a hopeful glint to my eyes, as it seemed like this day would become one of those days I could better ignore the weirdness of the friends I'd made in Namimori. Kyoko simply responded to my words with a giggle, but before we could even take a step inside the school grounds, a sound was heard.

_**"Kyoko!"**_

... And it was a very loud sound. We both turned around with the same surprised expressions as we saw someone running towards us faster than humanly possible. _Damn it, _something_ had to show up, didn't it...?!_ A silver-haired teenager (who seemed as old as our resident 'super hero') with a bandage on the bridge of his nose stopped right in front of us in a sudden manner, as if to make sure he wouldn't crash into us.

"Onii-chan!" Kyoko called with happiness in her voice. _'Onii-chan'?!_ I thought incredulously, seeing no similarities between them that could ever hint at the two being siblings. Even so, there was no other perceivable reason for her to refer to him that way so I decided to assume that they truly were related, observing them warily.

He held out what seemed to be a lunch box, as if trying to see if Kyoko recognized it. "You forgot this to the extreme!" he said, but in a louder volume than any other person would use for such a situation; he was a noisy person, I noted. _Why did he need to add 'extreme' to that...?_ Somehow, I knew that mystery was never going to be solved.

"Ah, thank you, I didn't notice at all!" She took that lunch box with both hands and put it in her school bag, leaving me to stare at her brother.

Noticing that, he also started staring at me confusedly, seemingly thoughtful for some reason. "Hmmm... Oh!" To my surprise, he seemed to have realized something but I had no idea as to what that was, so it was now my turn to give him a confused look. "I remember you now!" _From where...?!_ I was sure I had never seen someone like him before. "No wonder you are extremely familiar! You're the the extreme girl who fought off the other girls that were watching Hibari! To think that you were actually from this school...!" _I did what?! I just shoved them out of the way!_

Startled, I stared at him for a while before asking, "Um, who are you?" I hadn't seen him at all that day, and I was pretty sure someone like him was recognizable: maybe he was somewhere the fangirls didn't let me see since they were so many? Even so, the fact that I was being misunderstood for having defended myself against fangirls was not good at all, as I was not what anyone would call 'extreme'.

He smiled proudly, and answered, "My name is Ryohei Sasagawa and I'd like to have your extreme willpower in my Math club!"

**. . .**

_Math club? Is he serious...?_ I did my absolute best to contain my laughter, not wanting to come off as a really rude person, especially when I wasn't even sure of whether he truly was good at Math or not. Whatever the case, my answer was obvious:

"I-I decline." I covered my mouth so as to not show the grin on my face, finding it difficult not to find the strange invitation funny. _I hope he didn't notice..._

I didn't want to make him mad, after all: besides, he seemed like an upperclassman, so openly showing disrespect towards him was beyond rude; people should respect their elders... except when they were super weird or deplorable... or God. "What?! Why?!" Ryohei showed himself actually surprised at my words, as if he was expecting me to accept. _What does me defending myself against fangirls have anything to do with Math anyway?_ Was I supposed to have used equations to get them to step aside or something?

... If so, then I would have definitely failed; Math wasn't really my best subject."The Math Club would fit you extremely well! A person who can fend off those extremely persistent girls would surely be able to solve any Mathematical problem! You should reconsider!" He kept speaking, actually serious about having me in the Math Club: I couldn't help but feel slightly bad for him, but there was no way I would join a club for a subject I didn't like.

I glanced at Kyoko, requesting her help, but she was only standing there with an innocent smile on her face. _Do something about your brother, damn it!_ Only after those thoughts did Kyoko start to speak, saying, "Come on, Onii-chan, you shouldn't trouble others like that. We all have classes and we shouldn't be late, right?" It almost looked like she was scolding him if not for her smile and overall attitude.

"But I'm not troubling her," Ryohei exclaimed, "right?!" He turned to me, expecting approving words. _What, don't make me say anything!_

It was, of course, impossible for me to ever confirm words that weren't true when they did not benefit me in the slightest, so I couldn't help but give Kyoko another nervous glance. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like she was going to do anything; I had to take care of it by myself. "Well—" However, before I could say something, I got saved by the sound of the school bell, ringing for the start of classes.

"Oh no, I can't be extremely late today!" He seemed to be in a hurry for some reason as he had dashed inside the school grounds right away, but, afterwards, he turned around. "See you later, and don't forget to join the Math Club to the extreme!"

With that, Ryohei left, making me stare blankly at his back as he did so due to his words. _He's a persistent guy, isn't he...? That's gonna be so troublesome to deal with..._

Figuring that I shouldn't keeping staring at him go when I also had classes to attend, I turned to Kyoko and said, "I guess we should get going now, right, Kyoko-chan?" Although I'd called her 'Kyoko-san' on my first days with her, I decided I was better off referring to her as 'Kyoko-chan' instead, wanting to cement our friendship.

"I'm actually in the classroom already since I got in before you; sorry for that. Anyway, since my lunch box is in your school bag, could you give it over to me when you get there?" She gave me an apologetic smile before fading away, waving at me like the first time we had met.

... I stood there for a while, processing what exactly had happened. _Wait, it's in my school bag? How the hell did that happen?! No, seriously, just what sort of __magic__ did she use to make _that_ work?!_

I scowled. "Damn that Kyoko-chan!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

_"Yes, Ryohei is the most extreme at Math, yo! Actually, it's not like he's good at Math, he just happens to find it to be the most extreme thing ever, even though he sucks at it. I guess it's the challenge of Math that makes it extreme? Either way, this Ryohei loves Math to the extreme._

_He still likes athletic stuff but his burning passion for Math will not wither!" _\- Author's Notes of former Chapter 5, 2014

All of that basically describes Ryohei's part right there. Anyway, I fixed a few things here as well in this re-write: I noticed that I made things happen on the same day or just the next day, and thought that was weird because the Kokuyo arc is a few _weeks_, not days away. With that in mind, I'm making time pass, and I also just improved the writing overall: so far, this chapter was the easiest to re-write, which was kind of surprising.

But LOL that moment where Kyoko uses her illusions to make Ryohei think he was handing the lunch box over to Kyoko when he was actually doing it to Observer-chan, and Observer-chan think Kyoko put it in her school bag when she was the one that did it XD Yes, Kyoko can pull off these complicated illusions in the canon of the story: she does much worse later on, honestly.


	5. Chapter 5

**First words:**

* * *

Eh, this is one of my weaker chapters. At this point, I got five reviews from the same person, and I got really overjoyed with them ^^ Whatever the case, I happen to like Hana, but this change limits her appearances, so I feel kind of bad: well, now I guess I'll have to suck it up and move on.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Even though Hana hangs out with Kyoko who also hangs out with Haru, Hana's opinion of Haru is kind of indifferent: she's not a fan of her personality but she also hangs out with Kyoko and if Kyoko thinks it's fine then she doesn't mind it either... that kind of mentality, I guess;**

****\- The inspiration for Observer-chan's 'Plan B' can be attributed to her mother who also does the same thing. In a way, Observer-chan and her mother are really similar.** **

Enjoy! (Plz enjoy nau)

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Fangirl Switch  
**

* * *

After school, I decided to head over to Kyoko's classroom so as to go home with her but just as I had gone out my own classroom's door, I could see her from the distance with a girl I didn't know. Confused, I walked over anyway, calling out, "Hey, Kyoko-chan!"

Kyoko and the girl turned to me, slightly surprised. "Ah, hello there!" Kyoko, realizing it was me, smiled and greeted, making the girl next to her just as confused as I was. She had wavy black hair and analytical eyes, a glint of suspicion in them as they stared at me. _Well, she's also my friend, okay?!_ I wasn't even sure of that girl's relationship with Kyoko, but it surely couldn't have been bad.

"Who's this?" she asked. _Wait, could this be...?_

As I had gotten to know before, there was an additional person in Kyoko's circle of friends that hadn't been introduced to me yet: the chances of this girl being said person were fairly high. "Oh yeah, I never got to introduce you to her! Remember the transfer student Haru-chan was talking about?" Kyoko said, looking embarrassed due to this situation (even though there was no need to be embarrassed in the first place).

"So this is her?" Although she had said that, she seemed more relaxed, probably from knowing that I was no strange person (which was ironical). "I guess you got to know her while I was gone then. Well, my name is Hana Kurokawa, nice to meet you; I've been friends with Kyoko here for quite a while. She's a bit of an airhead so I hope you can bear with that," she said in what looked like light teasing.

_Is that _really_ all you can say about her?_ As I had guessed, the girl next to Kyoko was Hana, who I had yet to meet since she was absent: so far, she actually seemed fairly normal. "Nice to meet you too, Hana-san. I've heard about you from Kyoko-chan but you weren't at school so we never got to meet properly," I said in a polite manner, still feeling awkward.

Was it because she didn't seem to have anything particularly strange about her? All of her actions had been perfectly justifiable from a normal point of view. "Just Hana is fine, don't worry about it." She shrugged with a smile, though it carried none of Kyoko's cheerfulness, which I had never expected from her in the first place. "Anyway, we were about to head over to Haru since she said she'd be waiting at the gates, wanna come with us?"

I processed her words. _Have I finally met the only normal person in the group...?_

_Yes! With someone like her, getting used to Kyoko and Haru will be so much easier for me!_ I cheered, getting my hopes up. "Sure, let's go," I said and nodded as well all started walking. The fact that I had found someone normal to talk to for the first time in my life in Namimori had amazed me in all sorts of ways, so I couldn't help but be in a somewhat good mood.

However, I had celebrated far too soon...

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

We met Haru at the school gates and got moving, already at some distance away from Namimori Middle School. _Maybe this school year might not be bad at all, yeah, I can just overlook these minor abnormalities if I have another sane person with me... I think._ I never was one for positive thinking, so those thoughts weren't completely assertive: what if Hana actually thought everything was normal or something like that? Whatever the case, I was slightly happier that she was around, and was currently talking to all three of them.

"Hmmm... Maybe it's just me but shortcakes are kind of overrated, don't you think? I mean, I like them but—" **"Look, it's Hibari-sama!"** I flinched at the girly squeals following that and it seemed like we all had the same reaction: get away from that area.

... Except for one person. "Where?!" Hana of all people was busy trying to look up at the sky for our resident super hero and I could only stand there with an incredulous look on my face. _No... no...!_

"Hahii, Hana-chan wait!" Haru was the first one to react while Kyoko looked over in worry. Somehow, Hana seemed to flinch and 'snap out of it' the moment Haru shouted that out, looking confused for being in the same path as the other fangirls.

Still stunned, I asked, "Haru, does Hana happen to be a Hibari fangirl?" _Well, she did tell me to ask her anything._ Speaking of that, I hadn't asked her much questions about Namimori since I met her, even though I always had the opportunity to do so: that memory would always slip my mind as I'd hang out with them, especially when I had even weirder things to think about like Kyoko's strange powers and the occasional crowd of fangirls.

"I wouldn't say it's only for Hibari-san, but to most overly handsome older boys..." She trailed off as I assumed she was thinking of the best way to elaborate on what she had said, most likely finding that to be as hard as anyone would expect it to be. _Are you serious...?! _

Kyoko looked nervous too, scaring me more than I already was. "She's always been this way, she reacts to this sort of thing as if someone flicked a switch for her or something like that... I don't really know why though."

**"Hibari-sama, they're running away!"** Someone shouted to warn Hibari, making Hana's supposed 'switch' flick itself on again, running off to the fangirl swarm.

The people that were 'running away' as announced by whatever fangirls had such an annoying voice was a group of what appeared to be thugs, one holding something in his hand. They actually looked much more scared than anything, but Hibari didn't seem to care and only kept giving chase.

Haru panicked, "Hahii, we've got to save Hana-chan or she'll follow the girls until the end!" She started dashing away to the fangirls and I couldn't help but shudder. _Are you seriously telling me to go there again?!_

"Haru-chan, Hana..." Kyoko muttered before disappearing. _Hey, don't disappear on me!_

This was bad, I noted. On one hand, I didn't want to go back to the fangirls but on the other hand I wouldn't want to be mean and leave them alone to help out Hana. _What do I do?!  
_

... I stand there for a while before sighing. "I guess I don't have a choice..." I muttered to myself with a sheepish smile as I went over there too. _If it's suicidal, I wouldn't want them to go through it too._

It was _War...!_

Girls were shoved aside, pushed away and _kicked in the face_ all to get to where Hana was going. The amount of movement that these fangirls would do just to stalk Hibari was the equivalent of a parade so it was extra hard to get in the middle of them.

_Ugh, at least they were in one place that day!_ I tried to look for Haru, Kyoko or Hana but found nothing but other girls, some glaring at me. "Haru! Kyoko-chan! Hana!" I called out but got no answer.

This time, I was really scared. I tried to move between the great swarm but still, I could not see a trace of them. _Wait..._

"Hana!" I shout as I had actually found her. I went towards her as fast as I could and saw that she was also trying to track Hibari like all the other fangirls. _How the normal one has fallen..._ I thought, but my determination to get out of there alive did not waver.

... And saving Hana too, yeah. "Hey, Hana..." I was next to her when I said that and she did turn to me when she heard my voice.

"You might've come here for Hibari-sama but he's mine, okay?! Don't forget that!" My face was as pale as snow from the sheer ridiculousness.

_How the normal one has fallen indeed!_ I sent a glare to her, but she stopped noticing me a long time ago. _How the hell am I supposed to turn that 'switch' off?! And where are Haru and Kyoko anyway?!_

I tried looking around while being forced to move by the fangirl parade, but found no one even remotely similar to them; I started getting worried. I had gotten myself into that situation so they wouldn't have to suffer that much (out of empathy, basically) and to hopefully bring Hana back, but I couldn't find them, rendering half of my motivations meaningless.

As I glanced around, I briefly looked up to witness Hibari already flying away from the area, making me stare confusedly for a while. _Wow, I didn't even see him do anything, was I that distracted?_ I assumed that was probably the case, but couldn't think about it any further due to being pushed around by a bunch of fangirls. I shoved them out of my way to catch up to Hana, who was also running towards Hibari's direction. _That super hero could've at least stuck around so these girl wouldn't have to move like this!_

Even so, I got up to Hana again, who had an extactic smile on her face: it was somewhat hard to look at such an expression from her, so I could only grimace. As it was, my words probably wouldn't reach her: in that case, before she'd move again, I had to flick her switch off with my actions, as much as that wasn't my preferred method. _But... What do I do?_ "Ah!" Finding that Hana seemed to be preparing to move, shoving a fangirl out of her way, I immediately dashed to her front and, nothing else coming to mind, I went for plan B:

The slap in the face. "Ow, what did you do that for?!" She asked, clearly angry at what I did to her.

"It's not my fault that you were too busy fangirling about Hibari-san!" I defended, even though I definitely didn't need to justify myself in the situation I was in.

She looked at me in disdain when she heard me say 'Hibari', while the sounds of footsteps from the fangirls getting away from the area we were standing on had become more and more distant. "Hibari? That guy? Why would I ever be a fangirl of him? Can't you see how overrated he is?"

"You don't remember?!" I asked in outrage. _You seriously can't tell me that you don't remember anything when your fangirl switch is on!_

All of the fangirls seemed to be going away due to Hibari having left as well, making me feel relieved. "Remember what? I was walking with you and suddenly I find myself here."

I gave up and said nothing further on that topic: if she didn't remember anything, arguing was pointless. Meanwhile, I glanced at the side, only to blink twice, doubtful of what I had seen from that as I turned to the side. Somewhat far from us, I could actually see Hibari dodging a knife from the last thug standing and consequentially knocking him down with only one strike from his own weapon. _Wait, didn't he leave? I mean, I totally saw him leave, even the fangirls left!  
_

Fortunately, Hana was only looking at me or 'the switch' might've turned itself on but from what I saw, he said something I couldn't hear and walked over to someone, giving whatever it was on his hand to him. He said something else and after that, he walked away from the area.

_Huh, couldn't he just fly?_ I shrugged and realized that even after that, Haru and Kyoko were nowhere to be found. "Uh, do you know where Kyoko-chan or Haru are?" I asked Hana, not expecting a good answer.

Before she could say, "No I don't," and other things like that, I heard someone calling for us. "Psst, hey, it's me, Haru!" Both Hana and I snapped our heads to the direction of the voice and found both Haru and Kyoko, looking just fine.

"Haru? Why are you talking like that?" Hana asked the one question that I wanted to ask.

Haru's smile became wider and she said, "To surprise you!" _That's... not how you go about surprising people._ "Anyway, I'm glad to see you're safe!"

_But speaking of safe...!_ "Where were you though? I looked everywhere for you while I was inside that group of fangirls and couldn't see you at all!" That was a matter I absolutely demanded to know.

After all, if it weren't for them, I might have left Hana alone, as she would at least not suffer within the swarm in that state and I most likely wouldn't have met her in the first place. "We didn't go in there at all, we just went around them and looked for her from there. You're so brave for looking inside like that, not anyone can do it!" Kyoko said in a cheerful manner and the last sentence seemed to be a compliment too, but it didn't make me feel any better. "It looks like the girls went to chase Hibari-kun too, you sure were lucky!" Something was telling me that it wasn't just luck that got them out of there...

Even so, I was busy considering other things. _They didn't go to the fangirls to begin with...? So, basically, I sacrificed myself for nothing when I could have been looking for Hana from the outside like them? Seriously, how were they even outside when I clearly saw at least Haru go in there?! Don't tell me that was also Kyoko...!_ Needless to say I was more than displeased at what had happened, frowning at them as they gave me confused looks. I ignored said looks, instead deciding to blurt out the only thing that came to mind:

"... Are you kidding me?!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

And there you go, Hana's change and Kyoko being behind everything again! Seriously, Kyoko is way too convenient to have in this story. Whatever the case, I re-wrote this chapter, which actually used to be Chapters 6 and 7, but I got a bit lazy and decided to take the approach I was planning to use when I got to the Kokuyo arc, which was to just edit the original text instead of completely re-writing everything: hopefully it's still of decent quality like that? Anyway, in this chapter, I fixed some logical issues and the narration in general. I'm actually kind of surprised I didn't make Observer-chan freak out a lot, so I put a sprinkle of that since this Observer-chan should be acting in such a way.

Speaking of that, you kind of got to see a new side of her, which you'll be seeing a fair amount of times in this story: it's her reckless and kind-hearted side, which might seem somewhat contradictory to her no-nonsense personality, but I feel it really works to balance her out. Besides, it makes her get into more weird situations, which is the point of the story: even if she isn't being the smartest while reckless, I still like to write that side of her, since it doesn't make her so 'distant' from everything.

Whatever the case, look forward to more characters being introduced? ^^


	6. Chapter 6

**First words:**

* * *

At this point, the story got two reviews and a follower, which is pretty awesome!

I remember that, at first, I thought Chapters 8 and 9 (now being only Chapter 6) weren't very good... for some reason, since now I think they were actually really nice. I don't know, maybe it was because the changes I made weren't very bizarre, so I thought it wouldn't be as interesting? At least, I remember being kind of depressed by not having crazy enough ideas for the Vongola. Whatever the case, I find that having everyone be excessively weird would be somewhat overwhelming, so I think slightly strange changes are also part of what balances the story. Hopefully you feel the same way?

_"italics in dialogue" =_ flashback of such dialogue

"Hii!" = You know in the fanfics when Tsuna goes like "Hiieee?!" because he also does that in the series? Yeah, this is my version of that. Why did I put it like that? Because I felt like being more faithful to the hiragana that goes like ひぃっ！ or something similar and that kind of romanizes itself as "Hii!" so I made it that way. So yeah, that's what it is, just in case you'd get confused.

**Fun facts:**

**\- The teacher had already left the classroom at the time of this chapter; besides, most faculty tend to leave these kind of things that are technically outside of the actual lessons to the Disciplinary Committee because they know that they've got it covered. In a way, the Disciplinary Committee's what makes the school safe, as feared as it is;**

**\- Even though I said that above, most of the members of the Disciplinary Committee are left with the jobs that Hibari doesn't feel like doing or doesn't like doing at all so they usually spend their time in the Reception room doing Student Council work because there's no Student Council in the first place (since the Disciplinary Committee took over). With that in mind, they also got ordered to take cared of those two students, as they got injured and there was no way Hibari would ever want to deal with other people beyond biting them to death despite being a super hero.  
**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 6: In Which Delicious Lunch Was Eaten  
**

* * *

Lunch break had started, so I decided to go look for Kyoko and Hana at their classrooms, wanting to have lunch with them: I hadn't done so before, having never gotten the chance, courage or will to ask them.

... I soon regretted that decision.

As I was just about to reach the classroom, the sound of an explosion was heard. _What the...?!_ I jumped back with a gasp and instinctively ducked, closing my eyes out of fear in the process. _How... why?! Why was there an _explosion_ here?!_

It was already miraculous that I had not been caught in the blast, as I had picked up on the sound being fairly close to my area. Slowly, I opened my eyes only to find two students on the somewhat charred floor, having seemingly come out from the classroom I had wanted to go to. They looked as scared as they should have been in that situation while eyeing a silver-haired teenager who was scowling at them angrily; he seemed like some sort of delinquent.

"The teacher fucking told you to keep quiet in class, you dumbasses! Can't you even understand simple orders?! Besides, what if your behavior distracted the Tenth whilst he was trying to learn, huh?!" The students could barely even stand up, let alone talk. Meanwhile, I could only remain in my uncomfortable position as I stared at the silver-haired boy incredulously, having heard his words.

_... Is it just me or is he saying he used _freaking explosives_ on them just because they were bothering the class? There's just no way, right? I mean, that's just ridiculous, so... So maybe this is all a dream, my imagination, something like that? Yeah, there probably wasn't even an explosion in the first place...!_ The marks didn't lie; it was no dream.

Realizing that, my legs could only shake as I made an effort to stand up, my nervous gaze locked on the boy with the explosives. Glancing only once at the classroom, my eyes widened in realization of what I had planned on doing before the explosion: I was going to meet with Kyoko and Hana. _Are they... alright?_ I wasn't sure, and that was what worried me. _I mean, they probably didn't bother this guy, but they must be scared or something, right?_

_... At least, Hana should be. _As far as I knew, Kyoko could've used her weird super powers and gotten out of there. Overcoming my hesitation, I walked over to the classroom, but froze when I was able to hear the voices reacting to what had happened inside. "Hii, Gokudera-kun, what are you doing?!" Although it was an obvious question, that (understandably) panicked voice had probably only asked it because no other words came to mind; explosions were admittedly hard to process.

Afterwards, I heard someone else chuckle. "Where did you even get those fireworks from? Are those even allowed in school?" he said in a _cheerful tone,_ a cheerful tone of all things! I couldn't help but facepalm at what I had heard.

"Tenth, I took care of the troublemakers!" Gokudera (or at least I assumed that was the silver-haired boy's name) shouted out to whoever this 'Tenth' person was with pride, further increasing my feelings of disgust and fear. "Now they won't bother class ever again, if they know what's good for them!"

Since he was shouting at the classroom, the 'Tenth' was surely one of his classmates: whatever the case, it was an odd nickname. _Don't tell me he did that after classes so he wouldn't bother them..._ I just couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing, making me stare at Gokudera intently.

Meanwhile, I hadn't heard Kyoko's or Hana's voices. "What are you looking at, huh?" I tensed from suddenly hearing Gokudera's voice directed at me, having been noticed by him. The fear I was feeling of getting involved with someone who somehow had the means to _blow me up_ was more than intense, which was perfectly understandable.

However, I also felt angry at his rude attitude and the fact that he was the cause of problems no one wanted to have, so I merely frowned and returned his glare, refusing to show fear. "What else would I look at but you? Did you actually expect me to look anywhere else when you just blew the hallway up...?!"

"Well, that's none of your business now, is it?!" Gokudera responded, even more displeased at the fact that I was seemingly unafraid of him when, in fact, I was scared shitless on the inside.

Even so, someone like him deserved no better treatment than what I had given him, especially when he had no remorse for his actions: if anything, I should have been more relentless and strict. "It is when you're in my way! How about you get out and stop troubling everyone?!" As I had pointed out, Gokudera also happened to be right by the door, preventing me from entering the classroom.

"What the hell did you just say, woman?!" _This guy is totally a delinquent! Seriously, 'woman'?! What the hell is_ his _problem_?! "You better take that back while you have the chance or you'll end up like those two bastards over there!" he exclaimed while giving the two students on the floor one dark look before seemingly taking something out from somewhere underneath his shirt... and that happened to be dynamite.

... All of my momentary, spur-of-the-moment courage immediately dissipated, having realized just how hard I had doomed myself from my impulsive arguing. Seeing him approach me threateningly, my legs trembled in fear as I tried to think of any good way to escape the mess I had put myself in. _Damn it, what do I do?! I can't defend myself, so...!_

However, before Gokudera did anything further, someone ran out of the classroom. "Tenth!" Gokudera shouted, surprised by his presence as he placed his dynamite back where he had pulled it from. The boy that had appeared had spiky brown hair and equally brown eyes, overall looking fairly normal. _Then why is he being treated like that?_

Even so, there was no doubt in my mind that Gokudera considered him to be more than that, as he actually looked happy. "Gokudera-kun, please don't use your dynamite again!" Tenth (I didn't know his name) pleaded, which was somewhat admirable of him since I could bet it took a lot of courage. He seemed fairly nervous despite clearly being favored by Gokudera, most likely knowing how dangerous he was better than I did.

"B-but Tenth, they were interrupting the class, and this woman's words were unnaceptable...!" he weakly defended, a genuinely saddened expression on his face as he did so. _Hey, what about you?! Your words and actions weren't acceptable either!_ The fact that he was speaking to Tenth politely, which he certainly hadn't done to me or anyone else, made both my hatred for him and my curiosity for Tenth increase.

_Just why does this guy respect him anyway?_ "That doesn't matter, so stop...! You'll only cause more problems if you don't!" Tenth seemed to have been somewhat affected by Gokudera's demeanor but he still expressed his opinion, albeit in a not so assertive manner. If anything, he looked somewhat agitated, which was completely justifiable since he was talking to someone like Gokudera.

**. . .**

After a moment of silence, Gokudera resigned. "I'm sorry; I acted out of line..." If I hadn't seen anything before hearing those words, I would have felt sorry for him but, having witnessed everything, I couldn't help but feel even angrier at the fact that he didn't even feel bad for having used his explosives, his apology instead being for troubling Tenth.

"Hey, what is the meaning of this?" Having suddenly heard a voice from behind me, I flinched. _Haven't I heard this voice before...?_ At those thoughts, a memory immediately occurred to me:

_"If this happens again, I'll bite you to death for negligence."_

My eyes widened in surprise. _Hibari the super hero...! But what the hell is he doing here?!_ I thought while turning around, only to see him in his full glory, narrowing his eyes at us. While at first, I was confused, I got reminded of yet another key sentence:

_"He's the leader of the Disciplinary Committee of Nami-Middle and the town's super hero!"_

My face paled. _Oh no..._ "Hi-Hibari-san?!" Tenth seemed even more scared than I was, as if having a better idea of what exactly Hibari was capable of. Despite that, Gokudera, who I would assume had the same experience with Namimori and the school, didn't seem at all fazed by his appearance, boldly glaring at him.

"Hmph, so you three were the ones who blew up the school building." _Wait, why am I being included?!_ "I'll bite you to death...!" Both Tenth and I shuddered at his words.

As Hibari started heading towards us at a fast pace, Tenth looked scared to tears while I couldn't hide the absolute shock of having gotten unjustly involved in such a situation. "Hii, Gokudera-kun, run!" Tenth shouted before doing just that, making Gokudera reluctantly comply. Processing that, I immediately started running for my life as well, following them out of having nowhere else in mind.

I could hear Hibari's footsteps as close as I could hear Tenth and Gokudera's, making me glance back out of fear; afterwards, I quickened my pace. _Was that a smirk I just saw on that super hero's face...?!_ Right away, I knew I was completely doomed.

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

After having gone to the Infirmary (for being bitten to death, _of course_) and getting ourselves bandaged, we found ourselves at the hallway near it.

"Ah, there you are!" Hearing a familiar voice, we (Tenth, Gokudera and I) turned around to see a student with black, somewhat spiky hair and brown eys, smiling at us... or, well, at Tenth and Gokudera, since I didn't know him from anywhere. Despite that, I did somehow recognize his voice; I thought back on where I could've heard it before.

... Immediately, I had a pretty good hunch. _It's that guy who was calling dynamite fireworks!_ That made my impression of him go down considerably. "Yamamoto!" _And his last name is apparently Yamamoto, the more I know. It's definitely good to intrude on a group of friends I don't belong to,_ I sacastically remarked in my mind, unsure as to whether I should just leave or only do so when I get noticed out of not wanting to just rudely disappear.

Somehow, Tenth seemed relieved to see Yamamoto, which I couldn't help but find strange. "Yo, Tsuna," Yamamoto greeted the Tenth, making me finally know his name. _Tsuna? Alright..._ I was honestly expecting a more ordinary name, or at least something that had to do with Gokudera's nickname for him: if he was the Tenth, he might as well have been named something with 'ten' on it.

"Tch, what do you want, baseball freak?" Gokudera said, contrasting to how he treated Tsuna._ Aren't they all friends?_ Yamamoto seemed to know them both, and Tsuna looked fairly relaxed in his presence; it was weirder of me not to assume otherwise. However, Gokudera was being rude to Yamamoto, even though he clearly knew him as well, if not just as much as Tsuna knew him. _I guess he just respects him, huh... Weird, why's that?_

I shrugged since that was none of my business; I shouldn't have even been with them in the first place. "Oh, hi there." Despite Gokudera's words, Yamamoto also greeted him normally, something that I certainly wouldn't do. In a way, that somewhat implied Yamamoto was very familiar with Gokudera, as he could just look past his behavior.

Even so, Gokudera only scowled at him, displeased with Yamamoto's attitude. "Oh no...!" Meanwhile, Tsuna exclaimed that as he looked towards a wall of the hallway, startling me a bit since I happened to be next to him. "We didn't get to eat anything and lunch break's about to end!" Turning my gaze towards the same direction, I noticed a clock on the wall, and it clearly displayed just how little time we had until the end of lunch break.

My eyes were wide in surprise. _No... lunch? When I didn't have breakfast from hurrying out of my house? Because I followed a bunch of strange people...?_ "No way..."

At my words, Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto seemed to be finally giving attention to my presence in the group, Tsuna giving me a confused look and Yamamoto staring curiously. "I didn't get anything for breakfast!" Agitated, I let that out despite how rude it was to complain to strangers when they had nothing to do with my own problems, especially if they couldn't do anything about it.

"Really?" To my surprise, the one who reacted first was Yamamoto, the only one who truly had absolutely no idea who I was. "That's not good, you should eat breakfast every day," he said, giving me a reliable smile before reaching out for something in his school bag, though I had no clue as to what that would be.

While that was the case for me, Tsuna seemed to be staring expectantly at Yamamoto, as if knowing what would happen next. After a while, Yamamoto took out what seemed to be a lunch box, making me confused. "Wanna eat some of this then? I sometimes make extra lunch and eat it for dinner instead but you guys seem hungry so you should share this!" Yamamoto cheerfully exclaimed, grinning at us.

I was more than surprised at that turn of events. Yamamoto was not only acting in a genuinely kind manner towards me, who he really could've just left alone since I was no more than a stranger, but also towards Gokudera and Tsuna as if that was perfectly normal, which was admirable in all possible ways.

"... Thank you," I said, giving him an honest smile. _I guess he isn't so bad after all._

That smile didn't last long though. "Share? That food should be given only to the Tenth! If it's for the Tenth's sake, I can go by without lunch just fine!"

"No, no, you don't have to go that far! I'm fine with sharing!" Tsuna said as if to excuse Gokudera's words, which didn't surprise me: even so, it would've been better to see Gokudera himself apologize instead of someone who was completely innocent.

Yamamoto only chuckled in a carefree manner. "Anyway, we should find a nice place in the school and eat up!"

I nodded at those words and followed Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto, having gotten temporarily inserted in their group. Even though I felt somewhat nervous for that, I found myself thinking more strongly of the small percentage of food I was going to get from sharing with everyone. _Damn it..._

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

_Holy shit, this is delicious!_ Tiny percentage or not, the lunch I had gotten from Yamamoto was actually better than what my mother would make, and she wasn't by any means a bad cook. I was practically devouring it, despite it only being some simple rice and fish; it wasn't what anyone would call special. "You made this?" I asked while eating: I didn't even care if that was polite or not, the food was that good.

"Yeah," he answered with a smile, "My dad sometimes offers to do it but I turn him down since I like cooking." _Well, you are definitely talented, your father should be proud of you._ I didn't actually say that since it was a fairly awkward thing to say to someone I didn't know well but I really wanted to, that much was certain.

Gokudera, Tsuna and I were sitting fairly close to each other, having to eat from one lunch box, but no one was complaining: I know I wasn't, I was almost forgetting their existence if not for the proximity. "So I guess you want to be a cook when you're older?"

"Huh?" For a moment, he actually seemed perplexed at my question, which I assumed didn't require that much thought to answer: wasn't it obvious? Afterwards, he gave me a carefree before answering, "Nah, I'm aiming for baseball: cooking's nice too, but I like baseball way more than that."

_Wha... t?_ I could barely process that answer, finding it prepostorous, ridiculous, unthinkable! _Baseball? Come on, you can dream better than that, baseball's the dream of a ton of little kids, damn it!_

**. . .**

... I glanced to the side. "That's... good to know."

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

And so ends Chapter 6! I really like this conclusion, it makes me laugh: due to that, I did my best to keep it as it was. Whatever the case, I made a whole lot of changes to the narrative, made it flow better, added a few lines of dialogue and got it to make more sense. Although I wasn't very confident in this chapter, it was only in the sense that I didn't have a grand idea for Gokudera and Yamamoto, not in my writing: clearly, I was blind since the problems this chapter had with its narration were pretty amazing. Whatever the case, Observer-chan finally got to know Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto: she'll definitely be seeing more of them!

To be honest, I used to regret the change I made to Gokudera when I got a much better idea later on: however, after that, I also got another idea that would tie in his change in this story to his backstory, so I don't mind it much anymore. As for now, I've got both ideas implemented, so I guess Gokudera got two changes? This will be kind of uncommon in this story, but he certainly isn't and won't be the only one. Putting that aside, I also made Yamamoto be awesome at cooking: if memory serves me right, I'm pretty sure I came up with that because his father owned a sushi shop, which made me think Yamamoto would totally be good at cooking. At first, I thought that kind of change was weak and not awesome in the slightest but, again, I later started thinking otherwise: really, it actually made for a lot of nice moments, so I don't regret it at all.

Anyway, you may be wondering about the stuff Observer-chan said about the name 'Tsuna': Tsuna is a pretty rare name, or you'll at least not see it on many people; if anything, it usually gets combined with other kanji (Akitsuna, Setsuna, Tsunayoshi, for example...) to form another name. Besides, Tsuna by itself just means 'rope' or 'bond' or something that binds something so yeah, I don't think most would call their children just that. Beyond that, when Observer-chan said that she at least expected Tsuna to have a name with 'ten' on it, she meant that she would have expected something with the the kanji for 'ten' on it: basically, she was expecting a name like, I don't know, Touya or Toushiro or something like that.

Now that that's explained, look forward to the next chapter? ^^'


	7. Chapter 7

**First words:**

* * *

I remember saying I got kind of sad that I had nothing to explode about, but honestly, I now feel like it was already amazing that I had something to talk about until this point, so thank you! Anyway, this chapter is more of a warning to both you and Observer-chan, since it basically tells you that the _Kokuyo arc is near._ From what I, the author of the future who's writing the Varia arc, know, the Kokuyo arc was pretty hectic and took quite a while to be finished but in the end, I think it was pretty fun: hopefully you'll think the same way? The earlier chapters of that arc also need to be re-written, which I'll surely get to doing, but I think that'll take a while so I might just edit this Daily Life arc in before doing it.

Whatever the case, Observer-chan commented on the name Tsunayoshi being 'pretty historical' in this chapter and, with that, she's referencing the fact that Tsunayoshi was the name of a Tokugawa Shogun: if you didn't know, Tsuna's ancestors all have the names of Tokugawa Shoguns too (Tsuna's father, for example, also has the name of a Tokugawa Shogun); I kind of wanted to reference that. Even so, I doubt Observer-chan actually knows that much: she probably just knew the name, though she's not very bad at History either.

**Fun facts:**

**\- If you're wondering about Observer-chan's father, he was asleep already;**

**\- Although Byakuran's been calling Observer-chan to Heaven, he could've just told that to her through other means; in other words, he totally did it on purpose. **

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 7: Called to Heaven Once More  
**

* * *

When classes ended, I didn't feel like hanging out with Kyoko or Hana (being bitten to death would do that to you) so I had decided to go straight home and rest. However, as I had started doing so, I noticed Tsuna walked through the same path as me, accompanied by Gokudera and Yamamoto: I was surprised at first, but then I figured I just hadn't noticed his presence.

Whatever the case, since I had gotten into such a mess with them, I felt somewhat obligated to speak to them, so I decided to walk home with them. Gokudera hadn't been too satisfied with that, having attempted to drive me away, but Tsuna stopped him and I ended up having a nice chat with Tsuna instead, as Gokudera bickered with a very carefree Yamamoto and sometimes interrupted the conversation.

From that conversation, I had gathered that Tsuna actually lived fairly close to me, and that his full name was actually Tsunayoshi Sawada, 'Tsuna' being another nickname: in a sense, it was a pretty historical name, but it still had nothing to do with Gokudera's nickname for him. I tried asking him why Gokudera had such respect for him, but he never gave me a straight answer as if wanting to avoid the topic altogether; figuring it wasn't a very pleasant reason, I dropped it. Beyond that, Tsuna seemed like a fairly nice person, though he was awkward in some ways: even so, that wasn't very abnormal, so I didn't mind.

If anything, he, along with Hana, was one of the most normal people I had met in Namimori, which pleased me greatly. However, Tsuna seemed to have a crush on Kyoko, something I figured out from the fact that he asked me about her in a flustered manner and said he'd seen me with her a couple of times, implying he'd pay attention to her. Even so, that was almost unthinkable to me since Kyoko could break common sense with her strange powers; I'd never fall for someone like that.

Whatever the case, I got along fairly well with him, and didn't mind being in the company of the group I'd just met. _I guess we're acquaintances now? I'll still just hang out with Kyoko, Hana and Haru, but alright._ I was already at the living room of my house as I thought that, feeling somewhat sleepy: it was late in the evening, after all; there was nothing surprising about that.

Suddenly, just as I was about to conclude I needed to go to bed, my vision became blurry and I started feeling very drowsy, my movements slower. _Damn it, not again..._

I ended up passing out, but I wasn't as surprised this time.

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

"Welcome back!" Before I could even process my surroundings, I was sure of where I was. _Byakuran... What the hell does He want with me now?_ "Well, I called you here to let you know what you should expect in the near future, since you'll be going through quite a lot."

I immediately stood up from the floor I was lying on, a surprised expression on my face. "What is it?" I asked, having forgotten about His Divine Presence, Byakuran's telepathy momentarily. _Didn't you say you'd just send me Holy Protection, whatever that is?_

"I did, but I figured you'd need more than that to get by: besides, it would make things easier for us if you know what exactly to avoid," He answered, "I'm sure that would make things easier for you too, so it benefits everyone!" Although I found it hard to trust His Divine Presence (as ironic as that was), I couldn't deny that He was saying the truth: it _would_ be convenient for me to know what to expect from whatever I was apparently going to face. _But wait, 'us'?_ "That's a surprise~."

_Can't you just tell me?_ "Nope: as I said before, it wouldn't be as fun if you knew." I grimaced, hearing those unpleasant words again. _And as _I_ said, I don't think that matters when the main priority is to make sure I don't die, unless you don't actually think that way._

We locked eyes, both unwilling to take back any of our statements: while I was mustering my courage to face someone like His Divine Presence in a determined manner, His gaze was just eerie in an assertive or even condescending way; I much preferred Him with His eyes closed. Despite that, He was smiling, which didn't particularly help my currently non-existent peace of mind. "Hmm~? I wonder what you're trying to say: do you actually think I'm not serious about protecting you? If so, why would I have bothered in the first place? Your line of thinking doesn't make much sense."

_Well, you sure don't act that way, at least._ "You're just over-thinking it," He dismissively said, a carefree smile on his face. _Then why are you even protecting me? You never got to tell me that, and I'm pretty sure_ you'd_ have a reason for it._ "Did you already forget? I'm protecting you because you're defenseless!" _That's not it and you know that: I'm asking for the reason you decided to protect someone like me; it's not like I'm anything special._ "Well, that's a secret~!" _Why...?_

"Hmm~..." He narrowed His eyes. "Let's just say there are some things you're better off not knowing." He then smiled cheerfully with his eyes closed, making me stare at Him incredulously. _What the hell?! You see all my thoughts but I can't even know why I'm being protected?! _"It's not that you can't know, it's that you don't need to know: ignorance is bliss~! The truth tends to hurt."

I glared at Him, overcoming my slight fear of Him due to being that angry at His words. _And what do you mean with that...?_ "If I said you were better off not knowing, do you think I would answer that?" _Damn it, you can't be up to any good if you're hiding things like this!_ "And why is that~? If anything, my intentions are nothing but good: I'm making sure you don't die _and_ protecting you from what you shouldn't be knowing; what's so wrong with that?"

_... You can't mean what you just said._ It was utterly unbelievable that His Divine Presence was using that kind of logic on me, so I was almost speechless: did He think that was convincing? He was God, so He must have known that wasn't the case. "I'd say the same thing back at you: you can't possibly mean that you're suspecting God; you're pretty daring," He remarked, keeping the same cheerful smile despite His words.

Not only that, but I was sure 'daring' was only a sugarcoated version of 'stupid', and there was no way that wouldn't piss me off. _Even if you're God, I can't just trust you: if anything, the fact that you're God _and_ suspicious makes you even worse._

... His Divine Presence laughed; my glare intensified. "To think you'd actually go through with saying that...!" _I kind of have no choice..._ In fact, I wasn't 'saying' anything, I was merely thinking it (though, to Him, it probably made no difference): normally, I wouldn't be that straightforward but the fact that He could read my thoughts made it pointless to hold back on my opinions; He'd be able to hear them anyway. Calming Himself down after laughing at my expense (such a great deity), He said, "Well now, I trust you won't try to get off-topic anymore?" _Huh?_

"Why are you confused? I did tell you what I called you here for already, didn't I?" It then dawned on me. _Oh yeah, about telling me what I should expect...! But wait, I wasn't _trying_ to get off-topic!_ His Divine Presence merely chuckled at my words. "Anyway, even if I said something like that, I'm only going to give you a few hints so you can look forward to it." _Are you serious?!_ "It wouldn't be interesting if you knew everything~!"

I sighed, frustrated. "First off, I'll give you a nice little piece of advice: if someone was stabbed with a trident, don't get close to them~!" _Can't you just tell me to avoid tridents altogether?_ "Sure, that also works." I grimaced at His dimissive attitude, still finding it repulsive. "Hmmm~... Since I don't have much else to tell you, I guess I'll go over the rest quickly: the Disciplinary Committee is in danger and so are some of your friends, who would do such a thing~? Head off to Kokuyo, always follow the Leader."

"What?" I uttered, completely confused. I could recognize the Disciplinary Committee, as it was infamous in Namimori Middle School, but I didn't know why there was a need to relay that information to me. _Why would I care about the Disciplinary Committee anyway?_

_And wait, 'the Leader'? Who's the Leader?_ "Who knows~? It's up to you to figure that out."

_Why, why me?! _I noticed I was starting to feel drowsy again, and I was certain it was because I was getting kicked out. _How am I even supposed to figure anything out when you don't say anything useful? Answer me!_ I fell to the floor but it didn't even hurt: was it an effect of being in Heaven? Whatever the case, I had other things to worry about, my vision fading.

"What are you talking about? I said a ton of useful things, you're smart enough to get it," His Divine Presence simply said with a cheerful tone as I was losing my consciousness, anger being the last thing I felt in Heaven. "See you later~." Having not even the strength to think, I found I could do nothing more, having completely blacked out.

* * *

**. . .  
**

* * *

"Hmmm..." I woke up to find my mother shaking me again, this time looking even more worried. Even so, that was perfectly understandable: if my daughter had started just randomly passing out everywhere, I'd be worried too... if I were to ever have a daughter in the first place. Gaining more awareness of my surroundings, I noticed how I wasn't in any awkward position, simply flat on the floor. _I guess that's better than last time._

Slowly, I stood up and gave my mother a sheepish look. "Seriously, if there's something wrong, you should tell me: last time you just woke up and suddenly told me you met God or something like that, you really had me worried! You aren't skipping any meals, are you?" _Damn, my mom's intimidating..._

"I'm not, I... I've just been falling asleep on awkward places lately, you don't have to get so worked up about it," I said, hoping that I sounded at least somewhat convincing. I felt really bad lying to my mother about what had been happening to me, but I wouldn't imagine her believing it even if I told her the truth either.

... If anything, she would have probably misunderstood it for a near-death experience, which would've been worse for me. My mother stared at me for a while, her gaze serious. "Well," she started, "if that's the case then you better start sleeping at 9 PM every day from now on, you hear me?" She smirked afterwards. "Unless you're actually lying, of course... If you are, don't bother: just confess and _maybe_ I'll put this incident past us, alright? Or, if you've really just been talking with your old friends until such late hours, you'll just have to deal with the curfew I've placed on you for now; understood?"

She could totally see through me like an open book and I was totally not pleased. "Understood, my beloved mother: I'll do exactly as you say because I happen to be _telling the truth,"_ I unsubtly said, "so, seeing as it's currently past that hour, I'll go to bed right now; good night." With that, I started walking away as I waved at her from behind, hoping that I had managed to beat my mother at her game.

"Good night; you'll definitely be in need of one now that you're so _sleep-deprived_." I stopped walking; my mother noticed that. "By the way, you're trying too hard."

_... Damn it!_ "Tch," I merely uttered before starting to walk again, a frown on my face that my mother luckily couldn't see. _As expected of mom, she's good..._ I let those thoughts naturally fade away from me as the main worries, which I knew would come up relatively quick, surged within my mind. _Seriously, what the hell did Byakuran mean anyway? He didn't need to be so cryptic!_

Reaching the stairs to my room, I sighed. _This will haunt me in my dreams..._

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Oh, Byakuran... you evil, evil bastard XD Okay, I know I've already told you he's evil (meaning that there's a Future arc) so the only thing you don't know is why he's giving her Holy Protection. Why, indeed? Since Observer-chan has no idea of anything, she can come up with many theories that might not be true so it's not like you can completely trust her logic: in essence, Observer-chan is an unreliable narrator. With that in mind, hopefully you'll have even less of an idea as to why Byakuran's protecting her~ ^^'

Anyway, I've improved this chapter's dialogue, made the narrative flow better, got stuff to make more sense and basically fixed Byakuran: now he's more in-character! Seriously, I'm totally gonna need to re-write Chapter 52 (or former Chapter 52) since I also need to fix Byakuran there X.X Also, I love writing Byakuran, he's such a devious bastard: somehow, even when he's not evil within my stories, he kind of sounds like a bad guy, which is always pretty fun... not that Byakuran isn't the bad guy here, since he totally is. Speaking of that, hopefully you'll look forward to the Future arc since you'll know it'll be really fucked up: I mean, Byakuran is _God!_ Things will certainly change from that, no?

Also, you've seen Observer-chan's mother: she's more of a minor character within the story, but this won't be the last time you'll see her for sure since Observer-chan is the protagonist. Really, how could I not write Observer-chan's family if she's the protagonist of this story? It'd be more awkward if she didn't say anything. Whatever the case, look forward to the next chapter?


	8. Chapter 8

**First words:**

* * *

At this point, the story had gotten one favorite and a follower, hell yes! Thank you!

Now, this chapter may seem longer than the others, and there's a reason for that: before, I had separated this into three parts, finding it too long for something belonging to this story. However, having realized that only served to slow the story's pace down, I decided to unite these again and honestly, they were meant to be together: it just made the chapter that much better. Even so, chapters that weren't meant to have been together were also merged together in a fairly seamless way, making me not regret my decision.

... Haha, I'm sorry, I'm just smiling at this chapter's ending and at the fact that I'm listening to an ending song of KHR called "Friends" and I can't stop ^^' Though, to be honest, Observer-chan is still not completely in on that: she'll be soon, but for now, she's kind of on the fence. I mean, I've gotta develop my character relationships, no? Do pay no mind to ridiculous statements made in the Kokuyo arc if you find them, it just means I haven't edited those chapters yet; geez, consistency is such a pain. Okay, seriously, I'll fix that kind of stuff if I find it, but I won't do a thourough "clean-up" until I get to re-writing the Kokuyo arc, which will be after I upload these re-written versions. Whatever the case:

Onii-san = it can also stand for brother-in-law

**_bold and italics = extra intensity_**

**Fun facts:**

**\- Despite all the information Haru holds, she really has no idea Tsuna likes Kyoko;  
**

**\- Ryohei didn't actually notice Observer-chan at the time which is why he didn't ask her about joining the Math Club. Well, at least not until everyone got to the school gates, having spotted Observer-chan going to her classes... Observer-chan kindly (with no hesitation) refused the offer.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Whole Group  
**

* * *

Today, I had quite a lot of things in my mind. _Seriously, why should I care about the Disciplinary Committee?_ I looked down at the ground, deep in thought. _But he mentioned that some of my friends would be in danger too... Does that mean Kyoko, Haru and Hana will be hurt? He doesn't specify anything!_

_And something about Kokuyo... is it a part of Namimori or something? I'm not really familiar with this area in general..._ "Good morning!" I was startled by the sudden greeting and looked up to see Haru, as energetic as ever. "You seemed to be distracted; did something happen?"

I shrugged at first, not wanting her to worry about my problems, but then I reminded myself of the fact that she knew anything and everything. "Well, actually, do you happen to know anything about Kokuyo?" I asked her in a not very subtle way, but I didn't really care: as far as I was concerned, I needed to get everything straight. _Haru might be in danger..._

"Kokuyo? Ah, that's the town next to Namimori!" _Okay, I totally guessed that one wrong._ "I heard that Kokuyo Middle School was filled with dangerous students but beyond that, I don't know much..." She seemed to be thoughtful for a second, as if trying too hard to remember something. "Well, do you want me to look for more information on it?"

Despite having asked that question, I didn't really want to rely too much on her, as it was really my own problem. Even so, I nervously answered, "I do, but you don't need to if it's any trouble... After all, you might have some other things to do, right?" I tried to brighten up as I said that but it didn't work that well, as I didn't look all that happy.

"What are you talking about?!" She seemed really surprised, startling me slightly. "It's no trouble at all! You can leave this to me!"

Her proud smile was almost contagious, making me smile along with her: even if I had seen it more than once, it still had that effect as she seemed genuinely willing to make the efforts she claimed she would. "Thanks, Haru."

_That helps me out a lot..._ "No problem! After all, I did tell you to ask me anything."

Well, she did tell me that, but I didn't really trust her at first: who would trust a stranger suddenly going up to them and talking as if they knew everything about them? At least, I knew I wouldn't, and I surely didn't. However, after hanging out with her for a while and basically figuring out that she really was looking out for me rather than just wanting to stroke her own ego, my impression of her increased, if only by just a little. _I guess I really should rely on her more._

"You know," I started, making Haru give me an expectant look, "I was kind of skeptical at first, but you're a good friend." Sure, she was still very weird, and maybe I didn't think of her as highly as I thought of my old friends who I'd still be in touch with, but at least I knew I could trust her: that was already amazing enough.

Haru's eyes widened in complete surprise. "Hahii?! What are you saying all of a sudden? Was I not a good friend before?!" She looked like she was about to burst into tears which, though a completely exaggerated reaction, was not something I wanted to deal with.

"No, no, it's not that!" I denied, hoping those words would reach her instead of having her suspecting I actually hated her all along: I hadn't trusted her at first, but I never hated her. "I just... hadn't noticed it before."

A very hopeful yet weirdly adorable look was being directed at me, and it was admittedly scaring me. "Really...?" she muttered, and I nodded right away, getting a bt dizzy afterwards. "Well, if that's the case, then thank you! I hope we'll keep being friends!"

_That's way too fast of an emotional recovery!_ Even so, that didn't surprise me, so I simply smiled at her. "Me too, Haru: I hope you'll keep being my friend."

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

While we (Haru and I) were walking to school, I spotted a familiar face. "Tsuna-san and Reborn-chan!" However, the first one to greet Tsuna was Haru, dashing towards him immediately, leaving me to simply walk calmly with a blank look on my face. _'Reborn-chan'? _Confused, I looked around for any additional person, but didn't find anyone.

Or, at least, that was what I had thought until I noticed something walking over some house's fence.

_... Is it just me or is a baby walking on top of a fence...?_ He was wearing a rather nice suit and hat too, and happened to have a chameleon on his shoulder; needless to say I was already finding him strange. "Um, good morning, Tsuna-san, and..." I paused, unsure of what to call the baby: even if Haru had called him 'Reborn', there was a high chance of that being a strange nickname instead.

The baby, shifting his attention to me, had quite the confident smile on his face. "Ciaossu!" _'Ciaossu'? What kind of greeting is that supposed to be?_ "My name is Reborn; I'm No-Good Tsuna's home tutor."

"Reborn! I've told you over and over again not to say that!" Tsuna protested in a seemingly helpless manner. _I have to admit, being called that by a baby is pretty insulting..._ Besides, he seemed to claim he was Tsuna's home tutor, which was completely prepostorous.

Reborn shrugged in obvious fake innocence, a sheepish smile on his face. "I can't help it, it's the truth after all." _Okay, this little kid is _really_ strange..._ I gave him a blank look, unable to form a solid opinion on what exactly he was: I had never seen someone so young act that way, and didn't know that was even possible.

"Don't say it like that!" Tsuna retorted, making me frown disapprovingly. _I'm sorry, but you look kind of pathetic arguing with a baby..._

Even so, I figured it wasn't easy taking care of someone like Reborn, so I cut him some slack in my mind. "So, don't you think Reborn-chan's really cute?" Haru directed that question at me, almost squealing. I guess she really liked children? _The more you know._

Slightly surprised by the question, I took a bit to answer. "Well, I don't think the suit and fedora's my thing, I guess...?" Since it would be rude saying that I thought he was amazingly weird when he was right in earshot of that, I decided to go with that answer: it was also the truth, but it wasn't as harsh.

"Oh, but he likes dressing up in all kinds of costumes!" she cheerfully answered, as if that was something great. _He, he does?_

Admittedly, I found that more than abnormal. "What, like cosplay?" I asked in a skeptic manner, thinking of Reborn's parents. _They must be really weird people if they got him into something like that... _

Haru nodded excitedly; did she happen to like that kind of thing? "Yes! I'd really like to make him a costume sometime..." _Of course she'd have to be into that kind of stuff, that's just what I wanted..._

"Good morning, Tenth!" Meanwhile, Gokudera had arrived, I noted, having recognized his voice. I turned to him and saw that he was smiling, occupying a spot right next to Tsuna, the great Tenth.

Tsuna smiled at him as well, happy to see him. "Gokudera-kun, good morning!" I still had no idea as to how Tsuna was able to befriend someone like Gokudera, and how he even liked the guy in the first place, but they did get along. Being in the middle of an argument, Tsuna shifted his attention to Reborn again, most likely to lose badly at it again.

"Tch, what are _you_ doing here?" he asked while glaring at us as if we were complete outsiders; to him, we probably were.

I would've said something, but I noticed that Haru was pouting at him, looking like she was going to say something. "Do you have a problem with us being here?! We can go wherever we want!" she argued, and I nodded so as to support her. "She is my friend, and I'm here to see my true love! Is it really so wrong for me to chase after my future husband with my friend?!"

... I lost her there. _Huh, what?_ "Not when it's the Tenth, you stupid woman!"

"Hahii, I'm not stupid, you're just rude!" Although their bickering continued beyond that, I lost focus on it, processing other things. _So wait..._

_Haru likes Tsuna... and Tsuna likes Kyoko? And Kyoko and Haru are friends..._

**. . .**

_... That's messed up,_ I concluded in my mind before noticing someone coming up to us. "Yo, everyone!" That happened to be Yamamoto, who was grinning at us.

"Oh, Yamamoto, good morning!" Tsuna immediately greeted with a smile, seemingly more excited to see Yamamoto than he had been when he saw Gokudera. _Ah, so he's not the only one..._

Yamamoto then turned to me, throwing me off guard. "Hey there, you didn't skip breakfast this time?" I didn't know if he was teasing me or worrying about me but either way, I wasn't very pleased with those words. _What kind of way is that to greet someone?_

_Besides, is that really what you remember me by?_ Although that would most likely be the same for me if I had been in his position at the time, I still found it somewhat insulting. "Well, good morning to you too, I guess. And no, I didn't skip breakfast today," I said, giving him quite the bitter look.

Yamamoto somehow didn't notice it and laughed. "I guess this extra food I made will be wasted on dinner then!" _That totally clashes with your cheerful tone!_ In a way, that reminded me of His Divine Presence except that Yamamoto wasn't eerie while doing it: he just seemed very dense, so I couldn't really hate him for that; his cheerfulness was actually genuine, after all.

"Yamamoto, I've thought about this before, but do you really make that much food?" Tsuna asked, somewhat in disbelief. Seriously, Tsuna seemed like a normal person so far, which was truly amazing. _What if he has some weird switch like Hana?_

_... Let's not think about that._ "He's actually prepared, unlike you," Reborn countered mockingly, making me notice a pattern in their interactions. _I guess this baby really likes making fun of Tsuna; makes me feel sorry for him._

On the other hand, it was still pathetic to be mocked by a baby. "Why would I need to be prepared with extra food?!" The obvious argument was made, but Reborn was unfazed.

In fact, he actually seemed to be smirking, something I wouldn't imagine any baby doing. _Why was I even expecting anything normal from this baby...?_ "Don't you get it, Tsuna? What if your lunch happens to be stole... like this?"

From practically nothing, as if with the speed of light, Reborn had in his hands a lunch box, supposedly Tsuna's. "You should never let your guard down, No-Good Tsuna, and you better remember that."

"Aaah, what do you think you're doing with my lunch?!" What I had witnessed almost seemed like something out of a comedy show, but I couldn't laugh since Reborn had apparently been able to steal Tsuna's lunch that fast. _And Tsuna really didn't notice... What's up with this baby anyway, actually acting like he's teaching something._

Despite that, Yamamoto laughed at this scene, probably not even thinking of the details I had bothered with. "Well, it looks the extra lunch I made is going to have a use after all!" Did he really assume that Reborn was actually going to keep Tsuna's lunch?

... Was _I_ supposed to assume that he was actually going to keep Tsuna's lunch? "Hmph, maybe 'cooking freak' fits you better," Gokudera commented, attempting to make fun of him. Yamamoto, being as dense as a rock, would most likely not notice, so I found it to be a pointless effort from Gokudera.

Suddenly, without any warning, _**"SAWADA!"**_

I almost jumped back from the surprise and intensity, though I couldn't help but recognize this voice. _Ryohei Sasagawa? Oh no..._

Hoping that he wouldn't see me, I shrunk back a little from everyone as he went running towards us. "Good morning to the extreme!" It looked like he finally noticed everyone else's presence as he said, "Oh, everyone's together?"

"Everyone!" Following Ryohei was Kyoko, brightening my mood. _At least I have someone to deal with Ryohei for me._ "Good morning!" she greeted and from looking to my side, I could see Tsuna look a bit too happy for just a girl; he was clearly blushing.

_Ah, he really does totally like her... I don't know if I should feel bad for him or for Haru, who likes him. This is kind of an awkward situation..._ "Onii-san, Kyoko-chan, good morning!" Tsuna greeted as if he had forgotten that his lunch had been stolen by Reborn, smiling at them. _Wait, Onii-san? Already?! That's some confidence you have there!_

"Kyoko-chan!" Despite it being obvious for Haru to be happy at Kyoko's arrival, now that I had gotten to know she was her rival, it didn't feel quite right: was Haru even aware of the fact that Tsuna liked Kyoko? Probably not, I noted.

Noticing Haru and I, Kyoko smiled. "Ah, hello there! You know, Hana-chan told me about this event going on at the shopping center this Saturday and I wondering if you'd like to come with us!"

"Hahii, Saturday?! I'll have to talk to my father first since I have some plans but I'll try my best to make it there!" Haru seemed kind of panicked but still happy to be invited in the first place, making me wonder on how busy her life truly was.

_... Nah, she probably has too much free time on her hands most of the time, I can totally see that._ I nodded and smiled at them. "Sure, I'm free. I'll see you both there I guess, if Haru can come in the first place." While it seemed like I was paying my full attention to the conversation, I was also looking around in fascination at the same time.

Without knowing it, I had stumbled into a big group of friends, having not been aware that they had all known each other: as I thought about it, I had even forgotten to point that out, having practically taken it as something natural when I had only seen them all together now.

Where had they even gotten to know each other? I had no idea, but everyone seemed to get along just fine, each having a conversation of their own yet all together; it was pleasant to see. In my old city, I'd hang out with three other girls, but it wasn't the same as this; it wasn't the same as these strange people... Finding myself somewhat entranced by the situation, I shifted my gaze towards Reborn who was more to the side, still on the fence following along.

... Somehow, to my surprise, we shared the same approving smile, as if observing everything in the same way.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

At first, I thought this was really sappy but now I'm grinning so hard XD I merged three chapters together, but they were originally supposed to be together anyway, so it isn't much of a change. Beyond that, I made it flow better, changed some dialogue and improved the ending, soldifying Observer-chan's position in all this.

_"But really, when I was first writing KHR fanfics (those that you will probably never see) I was like, "Writing the Vongola is such a chore, I want to keep writing the Varia and Fran since they're so much fun to write!"_

_Bullshizz because the Vongola is a blast and I was totally stupid back then."_ \- My Author's Notes on former Chapter 13, 2014

Seriously, Tsuna's group is a real blast to write, it's pretty hard to be stumped in terms of conversations for them since you can imagine them always talking about something. Besides, everyone just works really well off each other, so it's all really neat: Reborn and Tsuna are a really great combination though, I could totally have them talk for days! I guess this was all completely intentional, but you really only notice this sort of stuff when you actually sit down and write them.

While Observer-chan seems distant from everyone so far, that's not supposed to last: since she thinks everyone is really weird, she'll hesitate, but she'll be included with everyone soon enough. So yeah, I guess this chapter also has the purpose of establishing that she'll develop? And also to end the Daily Life arc in a happy note. Hopefully you liked that, and, well, look forward to the next chapter? Which, by the way, will be a bonus chapter! Yay!


	9. Chapter 8,5

**First words:**

* * *

Just so you don't get confused, and because this is practically mandatory for this story: **please don't skip Chapter 8! ^^**

Yes, this is basically tradition, and it spawned from the fact that there were more people reading the bonus chapter than the actual chapter, which totally scared me: as you can see, I do check that kind of stuff out like a grade A stalker, and remember all of my stories' followers and favorites pretty well (unless they change their usernames or avatars— I mean, what? What do you mean, "you saw their profiles"?! Haha, nonsense! Hahaha... Ha...).

The only reason I don't thank them personally is because I think it might bother them, since it'd be kind of intrusive; thanking them publicly also kind of seems like it could trouble someone since everyone has their right to privacy, so I just announce how many favorites and followers there are. Hopefully that's alright? I mean, if you want me to tell everyone you followed this, I can, I guess. Whatever the case, I'm really thankful to anyone who cares enough about this behemoth to actually follow it and put it on their favorites, so yeah, thank you!

**Fun facts:**

**\- Observer-chan's got an average of 71 in terms of all of her grades; she's not a bad student but she isn't really a stellar one either. Her actual grades are usually between 64-73;**

**\- Tsuna and the others were actually trying to do math homework but Tsuna was kind of stuck since he's pretty bad at math (or anything school-related for that matter).**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 8.5: Bonus Chapter 1  
**

* * *

I was already at school, going through the hallway to reach Kyoko's classroom: this time, I was going to have lunch with Kyoko and Hana! I had actually talked to them about that in the morning, so I had totally made plans; they were expecting my presence. With that in mind, I was walking as slowly and carefully as possible, in case of any explosion. When I got close enough, I was already able to hear the lively students of that class, but no signs of Kyoko or Hana; were they truly inside?

"Argh, I still don't get it!" I could hear Tsuna complain from inside the classroom in a seemingly hopeless manner.

Was he studying or something? "It's simple, you just go 'gaching gaching' in your mind and get your brain working while reading all the words in the book like, 'zuuuuuun' and then you just copy it like 'tack tack tack' with your pencil and you'll get it right!" I assumed that voice belonged to Yamamoto as I struggled to understand what he was even saying.

"No, you baseball freak, the Tenth will never understand if you explain it like that! Listen, Tenth, the way to do this formula is to..." I couldn't hear any other words from Gokudera beyond that but I could still hear his voice, somewhat lower in volume.

... Whatever it was, he was taking a ton of time to explain it. After more than five minutes of explaining (and me still standing there like an idiot), he was still not over and the few words I could hear him say were becoming more and more complicated as it went on.

"I still don't get it at all!" I figured that Tsuna would feel that way since I didn't understand what they were even saying either.

I sighed and figured that maybe I could go inside and help Tsuna out with whatever problem he was having: I mean, I wasn't the best of students either, but I was sure I could at least give better explanations than those two.

"Hi!"

_**"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"**_

Jumping from the way too sudden surprise, I turned around to see Kyoko smiling at me.

After having noticed that I did in fact get scared shitless by her, her smile faded a bit. "I'm sorry, did I really scare you that much? I didn't mean to..."

"Um, you don't need to worry about anything I was uh, just distracted." I lied since it would be weird if I told her that I was literally standing close to her classroom because I somehow felt the need to eavesdrop on Tsuna and the others, even if she was also weird to begin with.

Despite that, she actually seemed somewhat confused with what I said, slightly tilting her head to the side. "Really? It kind of looked like you were spying on Tsuna-kun since you were spacing out so much... That's why I only decided to say hi now."

_So you were watching?! That's way creepier than what _I_ was doing!_ "What? I'm serious! I-I was just thinking about some things."

Part of that was true since I was still had what His Divine Presence had said in Heaven in mind: after all, it could mean danger to everyone I knew. "Well, Hana's waiting for us so we should go now." Kyoko smiled innocently as she said that, loooking towards the other side of the hallway. "I'm already there though, I just came here to warn you since we forgot to wait in the classroom."

Fading away in mist, I could only stare. And stare...

_Damn that Kyoko, again!_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Ah, I'll always like this bonus chapter... I don't know, it's just so simple yet good since it shows more of Gokudera and Yamamoto's sides to Observer-chan, and it ends on the amazing running gag of Kyoko disappearing on her. Ah... so simple yet so good.

I didn't need to fix much here, since there wasn't much to begin: I guess I just improved the narrative and added more context? That's all, really. Anyway, look forward to the next chapter?


	10. Chapter 9

**First words:**

* * *

At this point, one person had followed this story!

It might not look like it when you read the title, but this chapter's actually really necessary to the story, since it starts off the Kokuyo arc for Observer-chan: for Tsuna and the others, that'll be on the next day. Whatever the case, now you know that this story will indeed follow KHR's canon instead of it just being "Observer-chan meets everyone who's weird."

Believe it or not, that was my plan when I initially wrote the starting chapters of this story: I imagined this as continuous short chapters focused on a crazy AU where Observer-chan would meet everyone, so she'd be meeting the Varia randomly in Namimori too, for example, without any plot to it whatsoever. However, I also had many mental images of what would happen if I applied the changes I made to the arcs of the story so, eventually, I figured I wouldn't have enough inspiration to write something so aimless and decided to apply the story of KHR here: I don't regret this at all, since I have a feeling that's what made me get this far.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Haru's father was actually busy so Observer-chan never got to meet him; she wondered if he knew about Haru's knowledge on everything...**

**\- Haru's grades go from about 86-98; these would be great grades in a normal school but hers is an elite school so they're apparently kind of average. Observer-chan was pretty surprised when Haru told her about being in an elite school in the first place since Haru would never really fit into the kind of person to actually have such good grades, at least not in Observer-chan's opinion.  
**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 9: My first time in Haru's house**

* * *

Today (Sunday), I was at Haru's house because she wanted to tell me about Kokuyo there for some reason: I really wouldn't have minded if we had met at some nice place, at a Cake Shop for example, to talk about it but apparently that wasn't possible so no roll cakes for me, I noted.

I was currently in Haru's room, which was kind of weird to describe. There was only one way to put it:

It was an 'organized mess'. I knew that made no sense in anyone's perspective but there was literally nothing better than that in my mind to describe her room: everything was nice and tidy but there was so much random stuff kept around that it didn't even matter; even so, it managed to have a girly feeling to it.

In a way, that totally fit Haru, except that she could be even more eccentric than that. She was looking through a drawer of her closet which, from what I saw, had a ton of neatly organized files of what I assumed to be her information. "I found it!"

She closed the drawer and presented to me, in its full glory, a purple file with a centered title, which read, 'Location: Kokuyo'. _Who knew Haru was actually this organized?_ "It was really hard to find since I don't usually add much information to this one."

"Wait, so you looked for that not because it already had that information to begin with, but to add information on it?" I asked, actually curious about that.

After all, I thought Haru would already have information on everything, so I found that to be somewhat strange, even if it did make no sense to assume someone could already have recent information before the events related to it actually happened: she was just that amazing, in my perspective. "Of course! You see, I tend to forget it if I don't write it down... So I'll write as I talk to you!"

"Alright..." I said in an awkward way, still processing her explanation.

_... Huh, I guess I should've have expected that: it's not like she has strange powers like Kyoko._ "Anyway, there are some strange things happening in Kokuyo, I got really surprised!"

I tensed in reaction to her words: after all, His Divine Presence told me to go to Kokuyo, so there was no way the things happening there weren't anything dangerous. "Apparently, Kokuyo Middle School completely changed its Student Council and some dangerous foreign transfer student named Mukuro Rokudo is now in charge. The people at that school have been acting up because of that and they've been moving around Namimori a lot recently!"

The pace in which she was writing that down was pretty fast while she told me all of that, as if she were really agitated. "In other news..." It seemed like Haru was not the kind of person to take that kind of stuff well, but that wasn't very surprising either; Haru was a fairly emotional person. Even so, she did a full recovery, curiously saying, "Many students from Kokuyo were seen near Kokuyo Land, I wonder why?"

"Kokuyo Land?" _What kind of place would be named 'Kokuyo Land'? Some kind of amusement park? _Even so, Haru did say they were spotted near the place, not inside it. Would someone really just stand outside an amusement park doing nothing? That information was definitely suspicious.

She stopped writing and put the file away. _Wow, I thought she'd take longer than that._ "It's part of the Kokuyo Center!" _Huh?_ "Kokuyo Center is an abandoned recreational center, so no one should want to do anything there: that only makes the information I got weirder!" _Oh... Well, my guess was definitely off._

But, as Haru had pointed out, the fact that it was abandoned only made the situation weirder. _Especially considering that something dangerous is supposedly going on there..._ "You're right about that," I said, "Anyway, thanks a lot for this, it really helped." _At least I know some places to search for now._

"Oh, it's no problem! I'm always here for my friends!" She exclaimed energetically as she raised her fist in the air. _I wonder if she has any other friends beyond Kyoko or maybe Hana..._

I wanted to dismiss that topic, but ended up thinking, _Nah, probably not._ On the inside, I felt somewhat bad for her, so I smiled apologetically at her. "By the way, now that we're here and all..." Haru paused for a good while, making that smile slowly fade away; I had a very bad feeling about what she was going to say.

"I've been meaning to let you try out a few costumes I made! Don't worry though, I know you'll look super cute in them!"

_... What?!_ "No!"

"Aww, why?"

_I knew this was gonna be something weird, I knew it! _"No!"

"Why~?"

"Just... just no, please." As I thought of it, had that also been one of the reasons Haru wanted to tell me everything at her house?

... The fact that it was plausible only made me shudder.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Yes, Haru was planning that all along XD This is actually the start of the Kokuyo arc, but it admittedly doesn't feel like it: this chapter just doesn't carry any foreboding feeling whatsoever, so it doesn't really surprise me.

As for changes, I didn't do much beyond fixing the abysmal problems I had with this chapter's narration and getting things to make more sense: hopefully there's no drop in quality here? Whatever the case, what do you think? Did Observer-chan try out the costumes, or was she able to escape...? What costumes was she even made to try out to begin with...?! I'll leave that to your imagination!

So, look forward to the next chapter? Things will happen there... somewhat ^^'


	11. Chapter 10

**First words:**

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At this point, the story got 2 favorites, 2 followers and 1 review which is totally awesome!

**KeeLer MiMi - I hope you like yaoi a lot then because there are many weird ideas within this fic (None of them being yaoi though, just to clarify ^^'). Oh, how polite! Observer-chan thanks you for treating her respectfully (due to the use of -san)! Just kidding though, I might've confused you with that one. **

**Illusionist!Kyoko should totally become a thing, I'm having fun writing that. I didn't really make her that different from cannon though and I already liked her cannon personality to begin with but making her an illusionist does kind of set her apart from most 'love interests' of this genre (which she unfortunately is pretty much 'Tsuna's crush). Four months with no computer though?! How will you live through that?! *Ahem* Either way, thank you for reviewing and wanting to put this on your favorites and follow it (which you unfortunately couldn't do), it really makes me happy! ^^**

This above is a response to a guest review, to which I made no changes to: so yeah, it's still my past self who wrote that text wall. You'll be seeing many responses to reviews here rather than me actually sending a PM, even when the reviews are from registered users; I don't know why, honestly ^^' Anyway, you have also totally noticed that this section is usually really huge, and I cannot deny that at all: does it trouble you? If it does, tell me, and I'll try to do something about it on the next chapters.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Observer-chan's mother is the stricter parent of the house and will only let Observer-chan skip classes if she's sick or if something really important happens to both her and the family. Meanwhile, Observer-chan's father is more lenient though and he might let her skip classes if she really wants to: however he's usually not in the house on the morning and part of the afternoon, making it rather difficult for Observer-chan to ever ask him... not that she really asks that many times;**

**\- Haru actually went to the Hospital to gather information about the incidents happening in Namimori and met Tsuna while she did that: she even talked to Ryohei and Kyoko and all the people around, but she didn't have a pleasant time there due to being subjected to the heavy atmosphere of a hospital full of worried and/or injured Namimori Middle School students; at least she was happy with seeing her true love there.  
**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 10: In Which Stalking a Dangerous Super Hero Suddenly Became a Good Idea  
**

* * *

As I walked to school, I was deep in thought, staring at the ground. _The Disciplinary Committee did end up getting into danger, but how would that help me prevent Kyoko and the others from suffering the same way? Are they even in risk of suffering the same way?_ In the past few days, members of the Disciplinary Committee had been turning up injured, having been attacked by something... or someone. There was no doubt in my mind that Kokuyo students had been behind that since I was informed of their strange activity by Haru, but the tension in the air of the school building whenever I entered it was always intense, as if the students were all afraid of the culprit actually being from Namimori Middle School all along.

Not only that, but just the mere act of defeating members of the Disciplinary Committee, which were apparently just known delinquents who looked up to Hibari, unsettled the entire school further as they were supposedly strong: it was also said that Hibari was at the worst mood possible due to said incident, making me suspect that was the _actual_ reason everyone was so afraid (being bitten to death was not pleasant). While I had been attending classes every day, a lot of my classmates had skipped school, most likely thinking they could eventually become a victim despite not belonging to the Disciplinary Committee: I couldn't blame them, even if I knew that wouldn't be the case; His Divine Presence had only told me about the Disciplinary Committee and nothing else.

With that in mind, I didn't particularly look forward to going to school, still having no idea what to do about the 'hints' His Divine Presence had given me. _I mean, I know I'll have to go to Kokuyo since He literally told me to do that, but what about following the Leader? Am I supposed to follow the Leader to Kokuyo or just go to Kokuyo and then follow the Leader who's already there? Who's the Leader anyway?!_

As expected, without the Leader, I was unable to move forward with my thoughts. _The Leader, the Leader... Ugh, who is it?!_ I looked up in frustration, only to lay eyes on our resident super hero hitting a man behind him wearing a lab coat with his deadly weapons from afar. Surprised, I found that I was already near the school, its entrance being guarded by stern-faced members of the Disciplinary Committee due to the recent incident.

In addition, it seemed like Hibari, who was right in my line of sight, wasn't alone with the man he bit to death: Tsuna and Reborn of all people were with him, Tsuna looking quite panicked from seeing Hibari do that right in front of him. Afterwards, Hibari started walking away, only to be interrupted with what seemed to be his cellphone since he took it out from somewhere (he had his back turned to me).

Tsuna gave Hibari a blank look for some reason as he picked up the phone and talked to whoever was on the other line. However, after a while, Hibari said something to Tsuna, and Tsuna seemed to be more than shocked at his words. _Just what is happening over there...? And why would Hibari be talking to Tsuna? Surely the leader of the Disciplinary Committee would be too busy with this incident to—_

_Holy shit, I finally got it._ All the dots had been perfectly connected in my mind the moment I reminded myself of the fact that Hibari happened to be the leader of the Disciplinary Committee: His Divine Presence mentioning the Disciplinary Committee was no coincidence; that had actually been an important clue to solve everything. After all, it was already obvious that the Leader was supposed to be a leader of something, but the one detail that made his identity a secret was that there was seemingly no way to know what he was a leader of: with that, I assumed, His Divine Presence had given me a hint that would point to said detail, making me be able to conclude who exactly was 'the Leader'.

In other words... _**Hibari is the Leader! **_With those thoughts, I knew exactly what I had to do, having been explicitely told by God Himself to follow that guy. _But wait, isn't that a bad idea...?_ I had gotten bitten to death before, so I knew how painful that was: if I were to get caught stalking Hibari, I'd most likely suffer through it again, if not something worse.

Noticing Tsuna leaving the area with a worried expression, Reborn following after him, I briefly wondered what had happened to them; it then dawned on me. _Is it part of what Byakuran said...?!_ His Divine Presence had told me 'some of my friends' would suffer, so there was a high chance of Tsuna being one of those people. Glancing at them once in worry, I found that I really had no choice but to follow Hibari, as dumb as that seemed: if I didn't, worse things could happen, if they weren't happening already.

_Well, I guess I'll have to do it... As long as he doesn't start flying around the school, I think I might just pull it off._ However, he was already far away from my location, being barely visible; I flinched. _Isn't he going to school?! He's from the Disciplinary Committee, how could he just skip classes like that?!_ Startled, I tried to catch up with his fairly calm pace, succeeding somewhat. Even so, other things were in my mind, realizing that, to follow the Leader, I most likely needed to skip school. _Oh no, mom will be so angry if she finds this out..._

I glanced at the school: even if I did attend classes, they weren't going to be pleasant due to the scary atmosphere. Besides, I was told by God to follow him so as to not have to face anything troublesome: it was stranger not to go along with something like that, even if His Divine Presence did happen to be somewhat suspicious. _Sorry, mom...!  
_

With that in mind, I gave the school one last glance before shifting my attention back to Hibari with a determined gaze and started walking behind him, hoping that he happened to be heading off to Kokuyo. _Why is he skipping classes anyway? Doesn't he have anything important to do there? I mean, he _is_ the leader of the Disciplinary Committee, and the other members aren't in a very good situation...  
_

Whatever it was that Hibari was planning, I had no idea, but at least one thing was certain in my mind: _I've got to follow him...!_

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

_How much farther do we have to walk to get to the damned place?!_ Although I did know going to a whole different town would be hard and take some time, I wasn't quite ready for the epic walk that awaited me: Hibari's walking speed was nothing short of amazingly fast, and there were no breaks; I had to keep up at all costs. Due to that, I was understandably tired but still did my best to follow after Hibari, who seemed perfectly fine somehow: was it because he was a super hero?

One would think that someone who'd usually fly around to a location wouldn't have such great stamina, but that sort of logic apparently didn't work on someone like Hibari. _I'll be so mad if this guy isn't actually the Leader..._ After a while, I spotted a very old-looking set of buildings, most likely abandoned; my mood brightened immediately. _This must be it...!_

I regained some of my energy by just looking at Hibari heading over there, only for it to completely leave my body when I saw that I had to go over the entrance, as it was closed off. _Come on!_ Hibari did so with ease, leaving me to stare at the entrance nervously. _I'm gonna have to go over this too, won't I...?_

As far as I could see, there was no other way: with difficulty, I went over that entrance, almost falling flat on the ground after I'd gotten to the other side. _That was so close...!_ I sighed in relief, taking a moment to recompose myself. _Seriously though, it's great that this guy is actually going to Kokuyo like Byakuran implied he would but I'd really like a break here..._

Knowing that I'd lose Hibari if I didn't hurry up, I started walking again with a frown on my face. Despite how slow I'd been in entering Kokuyo Land, I caught up with Hibari right away, as if he hadn't moved that much either; I wondered why. We both walked through practically dirt-covered stairs until we reached another flight of them, as Hibari had suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"... You," he muttered, turning around to look at me. _No, I'm doomed!_ I jumped back in absolute fear, nearly tripping and falling off the stairs: I would've screamed, if not for the underlying feeling that doing so would immediately get me killed. "You've been following me for quite a while, so I'll ask you: what reasons do you have for doing that?" _Okay, he's willing to listen me out, maybe I won't die after all...!_

_But, what should I say...? I literally have no reason other than because God told me to do it!_ If I were to tell him the truth, I would surely get bitten to death; preferrably, I wanted to avoid that. "Uh, well, you see..." _Damn it, don't make it obvious that you're gonna lie to him!_ "I... I heard the students of Kokuyo Middle School have been acting up lately and, and that they were gathering at Kokuyo Land but I didn't know where it was, so, uh..."

"Hmmm..." he hummed while narrowing his eyes. "And just how did you know I was heading over here?" I froze. _He's onto to me, he's so onto me...!_

Despite looking so aloof, Hibari was remarkably perceptive... either that, or I was just that bad at lying; I was betting on the latter. "That's because...! I-I overheard some members of the Disciplinary Committee talking about it!" _Oh no, what if he didn't tell anyone where he was going...? That can't be, right? I mean, he wouldn't just leave his Committee like that, they're being targeted!_

"Although I did tell them I was leaving for Kokuyo, I didn't tell them where specifically: overhearing that information would be impossible," Hibari concluded, glaring at me, "so you were lying after all; did you want to get bitten to death that badly?" I immediately shook my head in denial but that didn't seem to faze Hibari, who was already taking out his tonfas.

_No, come on, I can't be stopped here!_ "I-if the students of Kokuyo Middle School were behind the recent incident, and they happened to be gathering here, wouldn't it be natural to assume that would be your destination as the leader of the Disciplinary Committee?!" While I was more than scared of Hibari, I tried maintaining a determined expression as I stared straight at him, hoping that would make me seem more convincing.

**. . .**

To my surprise, Hibari had actually paused what he was doing to consider my completely improvised words and, a bit afterwards, retracted his tonfas to his sleeves. _Am I safe...?! _"You seem to know a lot," he remarked, his eyes still narrowed at me. _Am I... safe?_ "Why would the matters of the Disciplinary Committee concern you?"

_They don't,_ I flatly answered in my mind, but didn't even dare uttering such words outwardly. "W-well, the Disciplinary Committee protects the school's peace, right? So now that they've been turning up injured, there's just been an unsettling mood within the school, and, uh, I couldn't really take seeing it that way..." Since part of that was true, I didn't feel much regret in saying it: while I really couldn't care less about the Disciplinary Committee, having never witnessed them doing anything good for the school, I did hate the tension caused by the incident.

"... Hmph." His reaction confused me: had I said something strange? _Am I at least safe...?!_ "You also said you had business here; what are you planning to do?" I would've sighed in frustration if not for the fact that I was being watched by Hibari: one slight step in the wrong direction would most likely warrant my death. _Damn it, I'm gonna have to come up with some lie again!_

Although it was understandable that he was asking me all sorts of questions, most likely wanting to get to the bottom of the situation, it was still very troublesome having to answer them, especially when saying the truth was suicidal. "I, um... I wanted to talk with the one behind all this, uh, Mukuro Rokudo? So, I came over here..."

_Why do I have to sound so awkward?! _"You know the culprit's name?" _Oh shit._ "That means you must know him too: as the leader of the Disciplinary Committee of Namimori Middle School, I'll have you tell me all about this Mukuro Rokudo."

"... After I deal with these eavesdropping herbivores waiting to get bitten to death, that is."

_Huh, what? Herbivores?_ Apparently, he was referring to people as, to my shock, a group of male students with green school uniforms suddenly came out from all sides, surrounding Hibari and I. _Since when were these people here?!_ To someone like me, who didn't know anything at all about fighting, this was a terrible situation as the students were charging at us both with the intent of taking us out.

Fortunately, Hibari happened to be a super hero, and as that implied, he was really strong. Having already noticed them before they came out, Hibari had gotten the upper hand as he rushed towards three of them and knocked them out in a flash, having his tonfas in hand without any time for me to even process that he had taken them out.

Two students were heading towards me, but that didn't even matter: before I could react, Hibari was already taking care of them; they had been utterly defeated. With that, I couldn't help but stare at Hibari in awe for a while before he focused on me again, making me immediately tense in fear of displeasing him in some way. "Now, tell me about him."

I gulped, having actually no idea about Mukuro Rokudo other than the fact that he was clearly the mastermind: if everything had happened right when he took over, it wasn't that hard to guess it was him. "Um, I don't actually know Mukuro Rokudo, I just... heard about him, that's all. Since he was the one in charge, I-I figured I could know something if I talked to him," I nervously said, finding it almost impossible to sound assertive in front of someone as strong as Hibari.

"... I see," he concluded, his eyes narrowed yet again, "Then I have no more business with you." With those words, Hibari simply walked away, going up the flight of stairs we had stopped at as if nothing in particular had happened.

I would've let him go, if not for the fact that I still had to follow him around. "H-hey, wait!" As expected, Hibari ignored my words; I sighed.

_Why did the Leader have to be this guy of all people...?_

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

After seeing many poor students getting bitten to death as I desperately tried to follow our resident super hero (at least he wasn't flying), we had finally gone inside a somewhat run-down building, making me assume there was something relevant in there.

_Does this guy even know where he's going?_ I assumed so, since he somehow knew that he had to go to Kokuyo Land. As I thought of it, Hibari had no God guiding him or any all-knowing friend to give him information, so how exactly was he able to know as much as I did?

... Hibari was a very mysterious person, I noted. "Oh no," I muttered as we found ourselves in front of what used to be stairs, half of it having been practically destroyed. For Hibari, that was no problem: he simply flew up to the first floor, leaving me there to gaze blankly at how I wouldn't be able to do the same.

"H-hey!" I shouted to him, though I had a feeling my attempt at solving the issue would most likely backfire. "Can you pull me up?! I can't really fly like you!" He actually turned around, but he was glaring at me.

_Yeah... this isn't gonna work, huh?_ "I don't have to do anything for you." With only that answer, Hibari started leaving again. _Damn you...!_

"Wait!" Even so, I still had to follow him, so I decided to resort to other tactics. "I can tell you about Mukuro Rokudo, I was lying before!" I was also lying now but I really had no choice. _Well, for better or worse, there's still that Holy Protection, right?_

He stood there (at the top of those damned stairs) for a while, silent and still glaring at me. "Fine," he finally answered, "But if that turns out to be a bluff, I'll bite you to death." I made sure not to seem scared at that threat despite being absolutely nervous on the inside. _I'm going to die...!_

Whatever the case, Hibari had actually pulled me up, though he didn't look very happy while doing so (if anything, he looked like he'd bite me to death at any moment). Finding that I had gotten through that issue somewhat well, I stood there for a while, staring at Hibari who had immediately created some distance between us, still glaring at me. "Now, tell me all you know about him."

"Um, well..." I paused, gathering everything I could in my mind to pull off this lie. "He's a foreign transfer student from Kokuyo Middle School, but he's apparently so strong that he took over the school only a few days after he transferred. His weapon is a special trident of sorts, and getting stabbed by it will cause more than just physical damage," I said, literally just repeating a more confident version of all my assumptions with hopes that they were all true.

... Somehow, that worked on Hibari since he was smirking rather than glaring at me. "Is that so?" Although I had no idea as to why he seemed so amused, I didn't really care: as long as he didn't want to kill me, I was perfectly fine with him acting that way. "Interesting... He might make for a better opponent than all the weaklings I found."

_It's just fighting that he cares about?!_ Supposedly, he was going to put a stop to the mysterious attacks on the members of his Disciplinary Committee: had that not been his main priority? It must've been at first, but he probably changed his priorities from the simple fact that he liked fighting: I reminded myself to stay far away from him after everything was over, as I didn't want to be part of anything he was involved with.

After that, Hibari merely resumed walking again, completely ignoring my existence again as I found myself nervous from not knowing our actual destination: there were many rooms within the building we were in, but none of them was apparently where Hibari wanted to go. Due to that, I figured he did have a specific place in mind to look for Mukuro Rokudo, as it would've been pretty bad if he were just guessing his location.

_... He does know where he's going, right?_ After walking through a few hallways (and Hibari biting some people to death), we reached a room with a bigger door than the others; Hibari stopped there. Opening it and immediately going in, I meekly followed, only to find nothing of worth near me: the room looked as abandoned as it was, some floor planks looking fairly dangerous to step on.

However, at the end of the room lay something much more surprising: a large window was covered by a large, red, somewhat torn curtain, letting only a small light pass through. In front of it was a rather comfortable-looking couch but, I noticed, there was something sitting on it; curiously, it formed the silhouette of a pineapple. _Wait, what...?_

_Oh, it's just a person with a weird hairstyle sitting there, alright._ "Kufufufu..."

_... I'm so doomed._

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**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Wow, this became pretty long, I wasn't expecting that at all! Originally, this chapter was three chapters, but I merged them into one since they slowed down the story: beyond that, I gave them more context and just overall fixed everything that didn't make sense. Also, I added more dialogue because, uh... Hibari? Ah, Hibari, you're so hard to write: I always feel nervous when I'm writing him, and I have totally gotten nightmares over the fact that I'm afraid of him ending up OOC here; please tell me if you find any part OOC!

Even so, I also love writing Hibari at the same time because he's so hilarious: do you know how many awesome jokes you can write using a character like Hibari? Many! And they're all great! I also just love how he doesn't give a fuck about anyone too, it's one of the reasons why he's so hilarious. Anyway, you got a cliffhanger with Mukuro, hopefully you're psyched? Psyched enough to look forward to the next chapter? Please...? X.X


	12. Chapter 11

**First words:**

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At this point in the story, 1 person followed this!

As you might have guessed from the last chapter, Mukuro is gonna be here! Well, that was to be expected from the Kokuyo arc. Speaking of that, did you know that the Kokuyo arc literally lasted one day in canon? It seriously did, I re-watched the whole arc and found out that all of that was just one day: Tsuna and the others skipped class and all that to go to Kokuyo! There's actually a lot of skipping classes in Katekyo Hitman Reborn, and this is coming from the future me, who's at the Varia arc: seriously, do your stuff after school! XD

Well, school's boring anyway. I had a disclaimer put up before but honestly, I don't need one: the people reading this story are surely smart enough to know what stuff is being taken seriously (barely anything) and what's not (most of the story)! ^^

Kanji = japanese/chinese alphabet (the complicated ones)

**Fun facts:**

**\- Although Fuuta had already reported Observer-chan's appearance (he was sneaking around, remember?), Mukuro was still doubting her motives. In the end, he assumed that she was a hardcore Hibari fangirl;**

**\- Hibari actually used to like cherry blossoms: they looked majestic and dignified while being somewhat linked to the country... Not anymore.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 11: My Last Resort**

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"Hello there, you did well in coming this far," he greeted while smirking, still sitting on that couch without a care in the world. _I sure feel like sitting down after that much walking._ "Oh? It seems like you have brought a guest with you, how unfortunate that she'll have to end up like you now that she is here."

... I definitely didn't like the sound of that: I was sure that he wasn't planning on giving Hibari some flowers or anything like that, so I wasn't going to get the most pleasant welcome either. That was further reinforced by the fact that I didn't know what I was doing: as far as I was aware, I needed to 'follow the Leader' to make sure no one would get hurt but I had no idea of what to do after following said Leader. "She was the one that decided to follow me," he stated, wanting to dissociate himself from me as much as possible, I assumed.

"And she was holding information about you, Mukuro Rokudo. You are the one behind the recent incidents in Namimori Middle School, right?" _Great, just tell him everything you know, that'll make things so much easier on my end!_ Either Hibari was doing that on purpose or he was that confident he could win against that guy.

Whatever the case, he simply assumed that strange, heterochromatic guy with the pineapple-like hairstyle was Mukuro Rokudo but, in his defense, he looked too suspicious for that not to be the case. "Kufufufu... Indeed, I am the culprit you are looking for," Mukuro openly said as if he weren't afraid of Hibari at all, which was already amazing; Hibari was _really_ strong, after all. "But, your claims pique my interest: if this girl supposedly holds information on me, I would like to know more." He turned to me, making me shudder. "Tell me then, what do you know?" _Having to lie to the real deal wasn't part of my plans...!_

"U-uh, not much, a-actually. I just... have a friend from Kokuyo Middle School who told me all about you," I nervously said, "since y-you're so popular and all..." Hibari glanced at me with narrowed eyes, most likely picking up on that lie: I did tell him I didn't know the way to Kokuyo Land, so I supposedly shouldn't have known Kokuyo Middle School, or just Kokuyo in general that much. _Seriously, how did you fall for those lies anyway? They weren't that good!_

Either way, I just hoped for Hibari to kick Mukuro's ass and be done with this place: that way, I would be freed from the dangerous task of following a super hero. "Such an obvious lie," Mukuro remarked, his eyes almost as if staring through mine. I sighed. _I know, okay?_ "Well, not that it matters in the end. After all, the main reason I went ahead and called 'them' was all for your sake, Kyoya Hibari."

"What do you mean?" Hibari asked, seemingly unfazed. _I guess it's normal for people to know his name._

Just as he asked that, something... _high pitched_ could be heard from afar, but I couldn't really tell what it was. Somehow, it sounded like squealing, but I didn't want that to be true: besides, many other things could have similar sounds. "Oh, it looks like they finally came; they'll reach this room soon." _'They'...?_ It seemed like he was implying the worst case scenario, though he seemed thoroughly amused with that.

_... Okay, this guy is really scaring me._ To my dismay, I could hear those sounds coming closer and closer to our area, confirming the fact that they were, indeed, squeals, girly, girly, squeals... _Oh no, this is bad. _"Kufufufu... You do understand now, don't you? They are all my fans, part of my fanclub and all from Kokuyo."

The room we were at wasn't small, but I was sure it wasn't big enough to accommodate a swarm of fangirls; nothing was. _Are you planning to doom yourself too?! So much for looking that confident!_ Attracting his own fangirls to him was like waving a piece of meat at rabid dogs: it wasn't a good idea. Even so, it had already been done, so there was nothing in me but fear at the prospect of being squished.

I didn't bother turning around, knowing that they had reached the room by simply hearing the squeals; they were louder than before. However, Hibari actually did so, glaring at them. Some fangirls had already gone past me, making my lack of movement useless since I could see them in their full glory anyway: they were wearing a green uniform similar to the ones worn by the boys Hibari fought; they were Kokuyo Middle School uniforms for the girls, I noted. _What a way to make the fanclub official._

It seemed like my claim of Mukuro being popular wasn't actually false, which did surprise me: in my eyes, he didn't seem that handsome; perhaps it was the hair. "How annoying," Hibari said, "thinking that I was going to have an interesting match with you was a mistake: it looks like she really was lying after all." I gulped. _I am _so_ doomed._ "Now I'll bite you _all_ to death for crowding instead."

Despite his words, Hibari didn't seem to be moving. In fact, right after saying that, Hibari had a surprised expression on his face, something I never thought I would see from a super hero like him. I looked around me, trying to find the cause of Hibari's sudden change in demeanor: to heighten my confusion, the only strange thing I found about my surroundings (beyond the obvious fangirls) was the fact that the fangirls were carrying something.

_Branches of a cherry blossom...? What a waste..._ I thought with a frown, as I happened to like cherry blossoms: they were pretty to look at. "Oh, will you? I somehow doubt that: it seems like you didn't even know who you were picking a fight with at the time." Mukuro stood up from his couch, making many fangirls squeal.

However, I was very confused. _Hibari picks a fight with practically everyone, you could at least be more specific! _"I was also surprised with this revelation: I would have never thought a hitman like Trident Shamal would be in Namimori..." _Wait, who? What is he even talking about?_ Having stalked our resident super hero for so much time I could guarantee that he only bit Kokuyo Middle School students to death, so my confusion was perfectly justifiable._ And what does he mean with hitman? Aren't hitmen something like assassins?_

I took a step back, my face a little pale. _I'm... imagining things, aren't I?_ Somehow, Hibari seemed to know what Mukuro was talking about, becoming even more surprised than before. "Ah, I think you're starting to understand where I'm going here. You see, his specialty is having mosquitoes infect his enemies with incurable diseases: in this case, the one that infected you had the Sakura-kura disease, an illness that makes you unable to even stand up when near cherry blossoms."

_It's great that you're explaining things to us but if I were you, I wouldn't have done that._ After all, what use would there be to explaining things to the enemy? Was it just a way to taunt Hibari for his ignorance on his plans or something like that? Either way, I couldn't understand a thing he was saying, so it was pretty pointless. _Does a disease like the 'Sakura-kura disease' even exist? I'm pretty sure it doesn't.  
_

As the fangirls got a little closer, Hibari fell to his knees. _Can he really not stand cherry blossoms?! I'm doomed!_ Considering that Hibari was the only thing that got me to this location in the first place (and the thing that was going to bite me to death afterwards), not having him around was pretty scary.

... That thought in itself was also very weird.

Whatever the case, the Kokuyo Swarm (how I will call them), observing it all happen, were saying something in the lines of, "Mukuro-sama is so cool and smart! This Hibari had no chance to begin with!" I couldn't help but shake my head at them as if to forget those words. _Why are you even okay with all this, I'm pretty sure you're helping the wrong person here!_

Fangirls probably didn't care about morality: that was also fairly scary. Meanwhile, Hibari seemed to be surprised, angry and struggling not to succumb to the alleged disease he had been infected with while Mukuro had walked towards him with a smirk as if to mock him, getting closer and closer... "Kufufufu... what's wrong? Didn't you like the presents that these lovely girls worked so hard to bring over to you personally?"

The fangirls squealed some more after being called 'lovely', but I was sure he was being sarcastic about that: in a way, Mukuro is a pretty smart guy. Now right in front of Hibari, Mukuro's red eye changed its kanji (one of his eyes had kanji, just _ew)_,which definitely meant something terrible was going to happen; I could feel it. After all, what had that been for? Decoration? As impossible as it was to think eyes could even have kanji in the first place and that, by having them, something could happen, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.

... No, not uncomfortable: more like... scared. Actually scared. As I thought of it, it was unbelievably stupid to have only been scared of the situation now as it was already so obvious that Mukuro was dangerous and so were his fangirls, but the true dangers of what I had been sent out to do had really only occurred to me then: somehow, I just knew that whatever Mukuro was about to do to Hibari was going to be done to me afterwards; I dreaded to think of it.

I took another step back but found that the floor there made much more noise than it should've done, making everyone turn to me. From that, the fangirls glared at me as they said something along the lines of, "Who is that girl? She couldn't possibly be with Mukuro-sama, right? She has no uniform. Maybe she's with the other one, is she his girlfriend or something? Actually, she's kind of lucky..."

... I really wish I hadn't heard that. "Oh? How rude of me, I almost forgot you were there." _Oh yes, it would've been such a shame if you forgot about me! I mean, how would you ever kill me otherwise, right...?!_ While my mind could still think straight (and sarcastically), my body could not do anything at all.

Really, the only part of me that was moving were my legs, as they were trembling in fear of what would happen to me. "I congratulate you for having made it this far but unfortunately, what lies at the end of your journey won't be so pleasant for you. Since you were following him to begin with, why not meet the same fate as well?" He was treading closer to me, some fangirls following him with a killing glare. _Oh, so you're jealous? Then go ahead, be in my situation now!_

That smirk on Mukuro's face was not making me feel any better. _Damn, now's not the time to think about that, what do I do?!_ Although I wasn't saying anything out loud, I was sure I looked visibly panicked. _What could even match the power of fangirls and a seemingly dangerous dude?!_

**. . .**

_Oh, come on..._ I didn't like the idea I came up with at all, but I had no other choice. As it seemed like he was about ready to possibly kick my ass, I said, "H-hey, can I say my, um, last words before I go to Hell?" I mean, since there was a Heaven, Hell was probably around too.

Wherever I went, I wouldn't find eternal happiness anyway considering His Divine Presence. "Kufufufufu, and what might they be?" He actually seemed amused at my request but I didn't even care: at that point, it was now or never, life or death!

I cleared my throat and channeled the probably non-existent cutesy version of me in preparation for what would be the highest pitched sound I would ever make in my life and in the highest volume I could muster:

**_"LOOK, IT'S HIBARI-SAMAAAAAAAA!"_**

_I'm counting on you, Hibari fangirls!_

**. . .**

_... That sounded so stupid that I don't think I'll be able to die with a straight face._

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

I love this chapter, I absolutely love it XD It truly lives up to its title and, before I started re-writing stuff, it was the longest chapter at the time: now, it might not be that big, but I'm still proud of it nonetheless. As far as changes go, I didn't do anything special: this chapter didn't need much changes beyond making it have better writing, it was that good already. But oh my, it's been so long since I wrote Mukuro, it made me kind of nostalgic: I really love how elegant Mukuro is, and I try to reflect that on his vocabulary; hopefully I'm succeeding.

I really hope I didn't make anyone OOC because I really like Hibari and Mukuro (I kind of like Hibari better but you know...) X.X Also, fangirls, yes, _fangirls_ are what I brought upon Mukuro: do feel free to hate me for that since it gets even more ridiculous later on. Whatever the case, Hibari got cherry blossom KO'ed (if you don't remember, Observer-chan did spot Shamal getting beaten by Hibari, but she didn't know who he was), and Observer-chan has called upon the Hibari fangirls to deal with her predicament! What will happen now...?!

I guess you'll have to read the next chapter to find out! Look forward to it? Ah, dat ending was just so amazing...


	13. Chapter 12

**First words:**

* * *

**Celestial-Mage231 - Oh yes, the epic battle begins now!**

This chapter is really ridiculous, and that's why I like it: when it comes to this story, ridiculous things are great. I thought of merging this chapter with Chapter 13 (former chapter 20), but then I wouldn't be able to put the epic title this one has since it'd end up focusing on a different thing. Aesthetics over pacing? Not really, since the pacing is still being improved; other chapters are surely getting merged, at least.

Nyuu = Instead of some sort of English equivalent, I'm sticking to this because there's really no point to one; this is gonna be applied to Kikyo too so be prepared for it!

**Fun facts:**

**\- 10% of the fangirls in Kokuyo used to be Hibari fangirls before Mukuro was a thing: yes, the fanbase spread that far;**

**\- The Namimori Representative is not the actual leader of the fanclub since the actual leader is really shy.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 12: Battle of the Fangirls**

* * *

Everyone around me just stood there, simply staring. Hibari, who had been struggling to even move, was glaring at me with quite the intensity. _Well, it's your fault that I had to resort to this, you should've kicked this guy's ass!_ Whatever the case, I was as embarrassed as I was scared.

"Um, yeah... my last words right there," I awkwardly muttered in a pitiful attempt to stop the almost suffocating silence in the room. There didn't seem to be any signs of the fangirls I called coming to save me, not that there was any likelihood of them saving me to begin with; they could've made the situation worse instead. _I guess I should've expected this, huh. This is Kokuyo after all..._ I looked up at Mukuro, his smirk having disappeared.

However, I didn't really care about what he was feeling as I was too busy thinking of what would happen to me: I might've erased most of that feeling of dread because of my stupidity, but the fact that I could end up like Hibari except worse was dawning in my mind as a hard truth. "Such pathetic last words," he remarked, his smirk returning, "Did you feel like you were going to accomplish anything by saying them? That's quite pitiful."

_I know, alright? Don't rub it on me!_ To make it even worse, the fangirls were saying something along the lines of, "What a loser!" That was really pissing me off because I was completely sure I wasn't as much of a loser as a group of girls that would obsess over a guy that could and would kill others. "Kufufufu... Don't worry though, I will end your pitiful life right now." _Great, because that makes me feel so much better..._

_Argh, what am I doing, sarcasm is not helping my situation!_ I shouted in my mind out of frustration. That frustration originated from my fear of actually dying in this situation, seeing as there was nothing else that could help me out: there was no Hibari, and there were no fangirls; I was alone.

... Or, at least, that had been the case until I noticed strange, high pitched noises getting closer and closer to this area. _Holy shit, don't tell me it's the fangirls._ It seemed like them since the noises we were hearing were very similar to squealing. Despite that, Hibari still had his gaze fixated on Mukuro and I, wanting to stand up badly. _I know how you feel, I've been there... in Heaven.  
_

Speaking of His Divine Presence, fangirls that weren't Mukuro's were entering the room one by one, which I could only consider a miracle due to the distance my voice had apparently been able to cover. A collective gasp was heard when they saw Hibari's condition, horrified looks on their faces. _Well, time to make use of my recently discovered fangirl voice._

**"Look, the cherry blossoms are making Hibari-sama feel sick! Quick, take them away!"** I shouted out and they seemed to have acknowledged my fangirl-ness enough to trust my words since they nodded firmly after hearing that. However, they noted, the cherry blossoms were being held by Mukuro's fangirls, making them shift their focus away from me.

Many glares were exchanged between the fangirl swarms, and it was not a pretty sight in the slightest. "Who the hell are you?!" The Kokuyo Swarm's Representative (I guess) asked the Namimori Swarm (what I'll call Hibari's fangirls), pointing her finger towards them in an accusative way.

A girl stepped forward from the Namimori Swarm, looking surprisingly familiar to me. _No way... It's__ that girl who told me all about Hibari on my first day in Namimori!_ I stared at her in awe from that coincidence and, in turn, she glanced at with a confident smile and winked. _I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be happy with this turn of events or not..._

"We understand that there was some sort of _conflict,"_ she spat that word with as much venom as one could, "occurring in this excuse for a hot spot and that it is, inherently, _your_ fault. Am I right or _am I right_?" She seemed really confident in her words and speaking coherently, almost as if trying to seem superior to the other fangirls.

... Even so, I couldn't focus on the fangirls when I noticed Mukuro staring at me intently, flashing a very dangerous smirk. "I was planning on ending your life painlessly but I have changed my mind: you will see Hell itself after this." _I... might've just made my situation worse._

Meanwhile, the fangirls were still having a 'nice' discussion of what had happened to Hibari, reinforcing the fact that I was definitely not going to be saved by them. _Seriously, why did I even call you?_ "And what's it to you? Are you his fanclub or something?" The Kokuyo Swarm Representative asked with a frown on her face, holding that cherry tree branch tighter than before.

"We _are,_ so believe me, this incident is our concern." _Who knew that fangirls attain the ability to discuss things when they're facing different fangirls?_ It was certainly unbelievable to me. "What you have done to Hibari-sama is an _absolute sin_ and you should all _die_ as punishment but we're no demons: if you throw those flowers away from Hibari-sama, we can put all of this past us."

The Kokuyo Swarm Representative narrowed her eyes. "Is that a threat?" She turned her head to the fangirls behind her with an amused smirk. "Hah, look at them, they're _threatening_ us!" she mocked before turning to the Namimori Swarm Representative, "Who do you think you are? _We_ have the upper hand here, not you! If we want, we can dump these cherry blossoms all over your precious Hibari-sama; you're in no position to make threats!"

That fangirl raised a good point, but the Namimori Swarm seemed unfazed. "Oh, is that what you think?" The Namimori Swarm Representative chuckled. "How naive: you see, we just happen to know someone who can tell us all sorts of informations and I'm pretty sure she would be able to track down where you live... and where you keep your albums." _Their what?_ I had no idea why that mattered, but it was easy to figure it wasn't for any good reason; instead, something else came to mind. _Someone with all sorts of information in Namimori?_

_No... There's no way; it can't be her..._ I shook my head, wanting to erase that hypothesis from my thoughts. Meanwhile, the Kokuyo Swarm gasped. "And break the taboo? You wouldn't _dare!"_ the Kokuyo Swarm Representative shouted indignantly, an incredulous expression on her face. _Is it _that_ important? What do you have in those anyway, pictures? What pictures would you even have in__—_

I stopped myself, knowing that I was better off not prying into that subject. "If it's for Hibari-sama, _everything_ counts," the Namimori Swarm representative stated with a steely gaze, "so you better get rid of those or we won't show any mercy." _Damn, I'm so glad I didn't do anything to piss her off that day; fangirls are scary,_ I thought and decided to engrave that in my mind so as to never get in trouble with them: I definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of their glares.

"Hmph, t-that doesn't mean anything! We can still hurt your idol with these before you reach our albums: you wouldn't risk that, would you? In the end, you can't do anything against us!" The Kokuyo Swarm Representative retorted, obviously nervous, glaring at the Namimori Swarm. She stretched out the branch she had slightly, as if to threaten the Namimori Swarm; needless to say it worked _really_ well.

The dark gazes on those fangirls intensified, making me feel even more disturbed. "If you can't be negotiated with, it looks like we have no other choice: **we oficially declare war!"** The Namimori Swarm representative announced in a commanding voice, her gaze serious.

_... Are these people serious? Because I really hope this is all a joke._ The sheer intensity of it would prove otherwise, but that alone was what made it so ridiculous: despite being just fangirls, they seemed to have very complicated ways of functioning as such which, naturally, made no sense to me or any normal person. "Heh, bring it on, you Namimori wenches! We'll tear you apart!" With many responding shouts after those words, both 'armies' charged towards one another.

From there on, it was full-blown _war._

Violence of the likes I had never seen or wanted to see before had been displayed to Hibari, Mukuro and I, though I seemed to be the only one with a very, very shocked gaze: was that sort of behavior normal? Strands of hair flew about, pained screams echoed through the room, many fangirls fell to unsteady floor... _Just... what am I looking at?_ "Hey, aren't you gonna help us out?!" I immediately turned to the Namimori Swarm Representative, who had started talking to me while finishing two girls off with relative easy. "And here I thought you'd join the fanclub_ this_ time..."

_Who would join after seeing this?!_ "Uh, sorry, I think I'll pass on that too; I'm not really into wars..." _Like any normal person,_ I wanted to add, but I knew that wouldn't be a good idea since being on a fangirl's bad side, or so I discovered, was super scary.

"Kufufufu..." I flinched, slowly shifting my attention to Mukuro, who was thankfully not that close to me. "Now, how to go about taking care of this mess..." he muttered with a not-so-amused smirk on his face (somehow, he could pull that off) before fading away into purple-ish mist, disappearing from the area in a familiar manner. _What the hell...?_

_This guy has Kyoko's super powers?!_ To add to the already immense shock I felt from that sight, I heard strange sounds from below.

... However, it had been too late. Before I knew it, the floor started crumbling below me, revealing a dark abyss to which I had no escape; I was falling down. I screamed in absolute fear, still stunned at the sudden, impossible turn of events as I noticed columns of flames surging from that abyss, as if to guarantee that my fall would be lethal. _No, no way... Why?!_

The fangirls were falling along with me so I was also being subjected to many fearful screams and pleas for help, intensifying how doomed I suddenly was. _How..._ Tears started falling from my eyes as I got closer and closer to the fire below me._ Is this it? Is this really it for me? Getting myself into a nonsensical situation because of God and dying for no discernible reason? No...! _

"Nyuu~, just see through it already, it's an illusion!" The moment I blinked as I heard that voice, I felt the floor on my back; I gasped. "Seriously, why is Byakuran bothering with someone like you? You're so weeeak~!" _What the...?_ Although I could hear the insulting words of that childish voice, I was still in the middle of processing that I hadn't died, and that what I had seen had not been real.

_Wait, did she just say 'Byakuran'?!_ That immediately broke my concentration on processing the situation, my eyes widened. "Get up, will you? I'm talking here!" Despite the rude order, I did what she said and slowly stood up, looking straight at her as I did so.

Unsurprisingly, the person that had said all of that was a little girl: she had long, light blue hair and deep blue eyes, glaring at me with a pout. _Don't tell me this girl is..._ I looked down, noticing her bare legs and feet: the only piece of clothing I could see on her was a long, black coat.

_... My Holy Protection._ My gaze turning blank, I had realized she was practically naked beyond that coat; I sighed. _Of course she is..._

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

And so, Holy Protection arrives! Of course, you were able to guess it was Bluebell, right? With that in mind, you can totally guess that the Real Funeral Wreaths are the Holy Protection, so you'll be seeing them earlier than the Future arc for sure! I don't think many people like the Real Funeral Wreaths, but I sure do, so I do enjoy myself a lot when writing them: in general, I like every KHR character, so you'll see no bashing from me. Putting that aside, I changed a few things in this re-written version of mine: beyond improving the writing, I made better dialogue for characters like Mukuro so as to have events making sense.

The fangirl battle though, that's just so stupid(ly hilarious): you see the same girl you saw in Chapter 1 as if she were to become a recurring minor OC, but I'm pretty sure you won't see her again beyond this arc, and this is coming from the future me so I'd know. Whatever the case, look forward to what'll happen next?


	14. Chapter 13

**First words:**

* * *

**KeeLer MiMi - Well, I don't really like yaoi that much (Ahahaha...) but if you do, that's cool! I also felt like Kyoko was lacking something since she's usually kind of 'there'. I'd say she lacks involvement and presence because she doesn't really do much beyond being there and being presented as Tsuna's crush when we could've see more from her and get to know her better instead. Damn girl, you be survivin' with no computer? I'd be dying of boredom so kudos! I'm really lazy too so I can understand what you mean, I also rarely lash out on stuff. Someone else likes this story 8D?! Lol if she's reading this now, thank you? Or say thanks to her for me? I fail ^^' Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

An admittedly short chapter, and I couldn't find ways to make it longer either: besides, this chapter is better off not being merged with anything. One thing that's really bad about my chapters in terms of merging them is that most of them have some sort of reaction from Observer-chan, and having something else happen right afterwards feels kind of weird; it's hard to connect them. I guess Observer-chan should stop freaking out? Hahaha, nope, never! Observer-chan must freak out over weird stuff, it wouldn't be Observer-chan if she weren't no-nonsense!

**Fun facts:**

**\- Bluebell is actually not allowed to kill anyone no matter how much of a threat they pose to Observer-chan; the maximum that she can do is injure people, much to her dismay;**

**\- Fuuta had totally been hidden in the room all this time (even while the Fangirl War was going on; if he weren't mind controlled, that would've been uncomfortable ^^'). While Bluebell knew of this, she didn't think he'd do anything so she didn't bother pointing it out.  
**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 13: Holy Protection**

* * *

Suddenly, snakes.

**"Aaaah!"** The expected reaction came from me, though it wasn't heard very well over the sounds of the _war_ occurring in the room. Either way, what mattered was that snakes were in front of me and I did not like snakes at all.

In fact, I disliked them so much that they managed to take my focus away from the almost-naked little girl that was my Holy Protection as I jumped back in fear. Yes, I happened to fear snakes, among other things: despite that, a lot of people would like leaving the extermination of disgusting things like cockroaches to me, as if I was the most okay with them.

... Somehow, people liked pegging me for a tomboy: was it my height? I honestly had no idea. "You're really pathetic for getting scared of these," Bluebell (I figured out her name because she spoke in third person) remarked as she got in front of me. Afterwards, she raised her arm, which had transformed itself into a sharp 'blade' made of water, as if preparing to attack.

I froze from what I had just witnessed. _What? How... How did she__— Huh...?  
_

Bluebell then struck said blade down on the snakes with co much force that it created somewhat of a shock wave of that water strong enough to break the floor ahead of the snakes, let alone kill them; I shivered. _Seriously, what the hell have I just seen? How is that possible...?_ I found myself dumbstruck at the sight of Bluebell, seemingly the best His Divine Presence could get to protect, completely and utterly destroying more than those snakes. "Nyun~, this is great! I don't even have an annoying Kikyo to hold me back!"

Whoever that Kikyo person was, he was surely doing humanity a huge favor. Speaking of humanity, was Bluebell even human? I doubted it. After all, no human could ever have such powers: if anything, she was probably an angel or something since she had been sent by His Divine Presence.

... I could only believe that because I had already talked to God, making the idea of angels actually be plausible. Suddenly, columns of fire surged from the already broken floor, making me flinch and step back only to notice fire behind me as well. "Woah, is this some kind of illusion too?!" I questioned as I hastily returned to my original position.

"Duh, of course it is! Stop thinking it's real already, geez!" The fire faded away right when she said that, seemingly annoyed at me. _Hey, it's totally understandable for anyone to freak out over actual illusions and a weird angel sent to protect me; cut me some slack here!_

Frustrated, I asked, "What's even going on?!"Afterwards, the sound of the floor creaking nearby startled me, making me turn to its source. _Huh...?_ To my surprise, a little boy was stepping closer to me: he looked fairly normal, with brown hair and eyes and an actually really nice scarf, but there was no glint in his eyes; they were almost lifeless. Not only that, but he was carrying something... with three ends. _A trident...?_ Despite that, it wasn't long: it looked like he was just carrying the head of a trident. _A trident?!_

_"First off, I'll give you a nice little piece of advice: if someone was stabbed with a trident, don't get close to them~!"_

_Oh no..._ Knowing that holy advice was applicable to this situation, I turned around and started running away as fast as I could right towards the battlefield of the fangirls.

... Unsurprisingly, that had been a really big mistake.

Hibari fangirls and Mukuro fangirls were still fighting with all their might and I could already see the casualties: there were collapsed fangirls, wounded fangirls and much more; it was a fairly gruesome sight. One spotted me, her eyes filled with hope and sadness as she muttered, "The cherry tree branches... take them, away... from Hi... bari... sama."

I wouldn't take such a scene seriously if I weren't looking at it with my own eyes, locked with hers as they closed. I could swear I saw a tear drip down from her face too... "Hey, what are you doing in there?! It's way harder to protect you that way, you idiot!" Even though I heard Bluebell shout that out and knew that she was talking to me, I didn't do what she told me to do.

Instead, I ran to the various cherry tree branches scattered on the floor and picked them up as I went, looking behind me for that kid with the trident head every time. "Nyuu~, so annoying." I could hear her mutter that even from where I stood, that kid giving chase. _How is he not affected by this war going on?!_

"Kufufufu, you won't get away that easily..." I froze and looked everywhere for any signs of Mukuro but I had been unable to locate him. _Now that I think about it, I didn't see him since that illusion either... just where is he hiding?!_ Yet again forgetting that I wasn't supposed to ever be involved with tridents, I started running away while trying my hardest not to drop the damned branches.

Suddenly, the floor started crumbling apart again but this time, I could only stand there with a blank look on my face, hoping Mukuro was in my line of sight. _Seriously, I'm not dumb enough to fall for that twice!_ The illusion fading away afterwards, I saw that kid dangerously close to me, literally one step away from stabbing me with the trident head. "Wha...?!"

"Dodge it!" I saw Bluebell rushing towards me, flying like Hibari would. _Wait, she can fly too?! And if Hibari can also fly, is he also some kind of angel from Byakuran?!_

One glance at his body lying on the ground with a glare directed at pretty much everything was enough to dismiss that preposterous theory.

With a gasp, I tripped on the unleveled floor and fell down before the could pierce me with that thing, almost as if by miracle. _Is this luck or Divine Help?!_ I didn't even care, I was safe!

As if giving up on me due to that amazing feat of luck, the kid turned to Bluebell with the intent of stabbing her instead but she swiftly dodged his attack, got behind him and hit him on the back of his head, rendering him unconscious. "Nyuu~, I can't even kill anything..." I heard her mutter with an irritated look on her face.

... The fact that she was saying that in such a way was not making me trust her at all, to say the least. Even so, I found myself with no choice but to talk to her since she was strong, and I could definitely use her cooperation to escape the awful situation I had put myself in. "Hey, we need to throw all the cherry tree branches away so that guy over there can stand up again!" I told Bluebell as I pointed to Hibari, who was still on the floor albeit it somehow unharmed.

How he was able to not be wounded in the middle of the battlefield was miraculous to say the least, almost like me tripping on the floor and avoiding whatever it was that would lie in store for me if I were stabbed with a trident (beyond death, I guess). Maybe the fangirls protected him or something? It wouldn't have surprised me, as much as that also made me a bit depressed. "Huh? Why do I have to help that guy? He can lie there for all I care! Byakuran didn't tell me to do anything about him anyway."

I noticed that for an angel working under God, she didn't refer to Him in any sort of overly respectful way which was quite unexpected. "You know, Byakuran told me to always follow the Leader and that guy right there is the Leader..." I awkwardly muttered, finding it strange that Bluebell hadn't noticed such a thing despite having been sent by His Divine Presence; surely he would have told her about the Leader.

"What are you even saying, that guy's not the Leader Byakuran was talking about! You followed the wrong person all the way over here?! You idiot!"

My mouth was wide open from what I had heard, and it was not because of her insult.

_Hibari's... not the Leader? What? Then who... what? I risked myself for nothing? Just... what?!_

**_"Are you kidding me?!"_**

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

There wasn't any need for changes in this chapter, really: I just changed a few awkward parts in the narrative. You know, at first, I didn't think much of this twist but in the re-written version, I think it was rather amazing: everything hinted at Hibari being the Leader, yet he wasn't... so what, in that riddle, suggested otherwise? You'll know what it is later on (in the re-written version), but there totally is a piece of information that contradicts everything so I didn't pull this out of my ass! Oh yeah, I did a plot twist somewhat properly! :D

... Or, at least, I hope so. Anyway, who could the Leader be? And yeah, Bluebell is Observer-chan's Holy Protection so uh, expect the Funeral Wreaths? Well, hopefully you'll look forward to the next chapter, if anything. Look forward to it? ;_;


	15. Chapter 14

**First words:**

* * *

**KeeLer MiMi (For Chapter 19 (or 18?) - I find it funny that you say that because when I said that Observer-chan's plan was genius, I was joking. Both me and Observer-chan think that it was ridiculous but since I like ridiculous yet hilarious things I called her plan 'genius' because it was so ridiculously hilarious. Honestly though, that Chapter would have two outcomes: her last resort would work and lead to this or it wouldn't work at all and Holy Protection would be called upon earlier. The most hilarious of options was the first one so I decided to apply that. **

**I totally agree on Observer-chan's stupidity of going to places even though she is defenseless, that would definitely make her come off as a reckless person and she kind of is, if I really think about it. Judging by the next chapter, she'll probably be doing even more stupid things to the point of even acknowledging it. But Holy Shizzle, you're right, how could I not think about the fact that the fangirls would've totally taken the chance of molesting his body?! That would've been hilarious, why did I not think of that?! Why?! Damn it, it would've been genius! T_T**

In this chapter's (well, former Chapter 21's) First Words, I talked about something that I consider rather important: this story's themes. As you've noticed, the Kokuyo arc most definitely has 'fangirls' as its theme, but that won't be the theme of everything else. Instead, all arcs will have themes that are wildly different from one another, which hopefully you'll find super ridiculous and silly yet hilarious (the point of this story, honestly)! ^^ Well, either way, hopefully you won't find this arc's theme too off-putting? If anything, I'm just trying to be funny, so yeah...

Another important thing to note is that, for now, this is the last chapter I've fully revised and re-written, meaning that there will/might be a drop in quality in terms of writing, and really small inconsistencies (that I might just fix if I spot them). However, rest assured for I will re-write and replace the rest of the chapters as well! In general, I replaced these ones now because they were taking too much space in my Document Manager and I because I didn't feel like flaunt my terrible writing any longer, instead wanting to show you how it actually is now (decent, hopefully?) so you don't think even the latest chapters are that bad. Whatever the case, while I haven't replaced the later chapters in the Kokuyo arc yet, I would like your understanding on that, please ^^

**Fun facts:**

**\- It's not like Ken was particularly interested in being involved in stuff related to fanclubs, it was just Mukuro's orders. He'd be lying if he totally weren't a fan of Mukuro though, but not exactly like the fangirls... The trauma after seeing the Album was immense (let's be glad that Mukuro doesn't know about any of that!);**

**\- As wild as they seem, most of the fangirls act completely normal when they're not on a swarm. Because of this, Observer-chan probably would not even be able to spot a fangirl if she weren't on a Swarm.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 14: Animalistic Sets of Teeth  
**

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After finding out that I was literally _risking my life for nothing,_ it would be more surprising not to be pissed off in the slightest. "Then who the hell is the Leader?!" I demanded out of Bluebell despite knowing how much she wasn't going to answer me properly; I was that desperate.

"Nyuu~, guess it yourself, that's what Byakuran wanted you to do!" Bluebell seemed pissed off too, as if this were my fault. _Blame your damned God for this, not me!_ Either way, since I was already holding a decent amount of cherry tree branches, I dashed towards the nearest window (or open crack of the walls) and tossed them over.

Whether Bluebell did or didn't like what I was doing, I didn't really know but I also didn't really care since I knew I was doing the right thing. "Well well, you seem to have lowered your guard." I flinched, and turned around to see Mukuro, a sight worthy of a jumpscare.

I didn't actually do that though, even though I really wanted to. "You know..." I started, as nervous as I should be. "S-since I'm not probably not part of whatever plans you have, maybe you could... let me go? And, you know... I'd leave you alone and all that? I kind of don't want to cause trouble." I was pretty sure that this wasn't going to work now that I had summoned a Holy Fangirl War (HFW I) but I had to at least try.

"Oh? And you think that will work now?" _I knew it..._ His eye kanji thing was still on one, making his stare directed at me super creepy. "After what you've done, do you really think that you would get away so easily? Even though you possess a strong comrade, I barely fought seriously." In fact, rather than just creeped out, I was scared of him, having seen just what he could do: while it was nonsensical, it was still effective against Hibari and I (especially Hibari, since he didn't have any Holy Protection).

With that in mind, the fact that he was serious in his words, serious with the fact that he would not let me get away almost made me shudder. "Nyuu~, get away from her!" Bluebell had been so fast in getting in front of me that I didn't even see her move in the first place, only spotting her smiling confidently at Mukuro. "If you're fighting someone, you can fight me! I'll probably win though so don't get your hopes up."

While I usually didn't like over-confident people, Bluebell's words were very reassuring in my situation seeing as she had an impossibly powerful water blade attack thing that could be used to kick Mukuro's ass. "Kufufufu... We'll have to see about that, won't we?" However, Mukuro didn't seem that affected, still smirking in an equally confident manner.

Basically, both of them were arrogant pricks, except that they did happen to be nonsensically strong. Either way, wanting nothing to do with their battle, I quietly stepped to the side. _Yeah, I'm just giving you some space to fight, don't mind me..._ I glanced around and saw the Battlefield, and a kneeled Hibari. _Huh, I guess he's less weak because there aren't as many cherry blossoms?_

_And Hibari can distract Mukuro..._ That only meant that my efforts would definitely pay off, so rather than just standing around, I had to keep throwing away the cherry blossoms. As I looked back at Mukuro and Bluebell, I found that they seemed pretty serious about fighting one another, though Bluebell was smiling haughtily and Mukuro was elegantly smirking. Before I could do anything else, and while the kanji in Mukuro's eye changed from one to four, the sound of loud footsteps was heard.

"Mukuro-san, what happened here?!" From this room's entrance with a somewhat shocked expression was a Kokuyo student with spiky blonde hair and a huge scar across his face, seemingly acquainted with Mukuro; that certainly wasn't a good sign. "The fangirls—!" After processing the situation, he started glaring at the Kokuyo Swarm, which I couldn't really complain about. "What the hell do you think you're doing to Mukuro-san's hideout?!"

Most of the girls from the Kokuyo Swarm froze in place, leaving a chance for the Namimori Swarm to finish them off. While that was happening, one of the remnants of the Swarm shouted, "Ken-san, that girl over there called the Hibari fanclub!" She pointed at me with an angry glare, leaving me to stand there, visibly scared.

"Huh?!" The glare that this Ken person was giving to the Kokuyo Swarm was now directed at me as I glanced to the side, unnerved. "How did she call them from Kokuyo?! It's not like she can do as much as the leader or something!" It looked like this guy was somehow able to understand fangirl-speak and I didn't want to know why.

From what he said, only 'the leader of the fanclub' would've been able to call upon the fangirls from this huge distance, as weird and impossible as that sounded. _I guess that fangirl voice is really effective? I think I should remember that for future problems._ Even though I thought that, I was pretty sure that it was only that effective because I shouted that out as if my life depended on it (which it did)

"I don't know, she just did! She was the one behind this!" _Great explanation, weren't you there?_ I was almost going to slap myself for making such comments when my life was clearly in danger but I held myself back, knowing that it wouldn't do me any good.

While Ken (as that was apparently his name) seemed to be understandably annoyed due to the lack of detail in the fangirls' explanation, I was scared shitless since he was on Mukuro's side and looked intimidating. "Aaah, whatever! What matters is that I have to get rid of her, right?!"

With those frustrated-sounding words, Ken got something out of his pocket which looked like... a set of teeth?

_I don't even know what he's going to do but I'm pretty sure I'm doomed._

"Wolf channel!" Inserting that set of teeth in his mouth, where his actual teeth would be, he shouted that out with a large grin on his face, his tongue sticking out. While, normally, I would find that awfully creepy (and I still did), I was more focused on the fact that he was actually using _a_ _set of teeth_ to attack me, as if that would somehow be effective. _That sounds so ridiculous, what is he even trying to d—_

His hair somehow turning light grey (with this lighting, it might've been just white instead) and something that I could only describe as black spots kind of extending off of his scar, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be scared, confused or both.

_What... the hell?_ His nails seemed to be as sharp and long as claws too; this definitely didn't bode well for me. Even though I was a bit stunned, I tried taking a step back, as if running away from this whole situation. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy.

I blinked, only to see that Ken person gone from where he was standing and a blur right in front of me, my eyes widened by the sheer speed he somehow possessed. That had not been a speed humans could reach; it could barely be processed. _Wh..._ Stunned and without the proper reaction time and reflexes to avoid him, I failed to completely dodge Ken's attack.

**"AAAAAH!"**

Kneeling from the pain I felt, I shrieked, my eyes widened from having only now truly processed what had occured to me: my arm had ended up scratched by Ken's inhuman claws, though it was more like I had been slashed instead as the wound was that deep. In that area, my uniform had started being stained red from the blood pouring out of the scratches, a burning sensation pulsing through them; I winced. My heart beat fast, the fear of another attack from Ken being that great, especially when I could see that he was behind me, seemingly satisfied.

However, the shock I had felt greatly overcame the pain. I never thought this would happen: while I had felt fear before in this area, deep inside, I thought I would be completely safe as long as I had Holy Protection, and didn't hesitate in the slightest. "Nyu—?!" With a bitter gaze, I spotted Bluebell, surprised.

Having been too busy with Mukuro, Bluebell had only noticed I had gotten hurt after I had screamed, I figured. Afterwards, I noticed Mukuro was wielding a trident, which corresponded with His Divine Presence's warning._ Alright, but why the hell didn't Byakuran warn me about _this_ situation?!_

Whatever the case, Bluebell got behind me to face Ken right away, possessing inhuman speed as well (but hers was justified since she happened to be an angel from Heaven). "Damn it, don't get yourself hurt!" I glared at her seeing as she was acting like she was not at all to blame for what had happened to me: hadn't it been her purpose to protect me? It definitely wasn't my fault that she wasn't doing her job properly. While it was understandable that she was too busy with Mukuro to pay any mind to me, her words were still rude.

"Kufufufufu... Well done Ken, I didn't even have to give you the order." Mukuro's red kanji eye was somehow lit in blue-ish purple flames, the kanji still meaning four. Whatever it was, it did not seem to damage Mukuro despite the fact that it was flames: wouldn't his eye have burned already?

_I don't even know anymore,_ I thought as I got reminded that I was injured, wincing in pain. "Hmph, of course! You don't have to do anything at all, I can deal with these two just fine!" It seemed the arrogant pricks weren't only Mukuro and Bluebell, as Ken was also over-confident in his words, declaring himself stronger than an angel. I mean, being able to beat me wasn't that hard, but Bluebell was at a whole other level.

"Unfortunately, that is not really the case. That girl's comrade is quite the capable fighter and she has been troublesome, even for me. She isn't an opponent you can deal with," Mukuro warned, also aware of Bluebell's strength; however, he was still smirking.

"That's because I'm actually strong, unlike you all!" She pointed at them with the arm that had transformed into a water blade thing again, creeping me out in as she was using that as if it were actually an arm rather than... whatever that was. "But..." She started looking at me with an annoyed expression. "You're wounded so step back and find something to treat it because I can't do any of that."

_Are you kidding me? You're an angel, can't you do anything besides fighting people?!_ His Divine Presence had strange priorities: would it not be better to have well-rounded Holy Protection? "You're saying that as if we would give her a chance to rest," Mukuro remarked, looking somewhat amused. "You do know that you are trying to fight against two people, don't you?"

"So? You're so weak that I can kill you all at once!" Bluebell exclaimed, and stuck her tongue out at them haughtily. While I did recognize her strength, there were probably some people that could beat her, right? She couldn't possibly be invincible. _Who knows...?  
_

I looked over at the Battlefield, and saw that many fangirls were unconscious. Fortunately, most of them were from the Kokuyo Swarm, meaning that the winning side was the Namimori Swarm, who would definitely help Hibari out. In fact, some of their remnants were actually trying to get the cherry blossoms away from him. "Aren't you being too confident? You can't possibly beat Mukuro-san!"

Seeing Hibari standing yet in a somewhat wobbly manner was a bit of a relief, but he still wasn't in the best condition to do anything. Having the pain remind me of my wound, I understood that I'd probably need to treat it, so I decided to focus on that. However, a big problem with that was how there was no way I'd find something even resembling a first-aid kit in this abandoned place! "Nyuu~, you're the one that's being over-confident! As if any of you could actually kill me!"

"Kufufufu... We'll see about that, won't we?" When they got ready to fight, I immediately started running away. Seeing as there was no way to treat myself, I found that I really had no choice but let blood practically drip off my arm whilst I'd gather cherry blossoms. In general, saving the super hero that was Hibari was still the best course of action, as that would get me out of Kokuyo faster.

Unfortunately, Ken had spotted me and attempted to chase me down, only to be outmatched in speed by Bluebell, who has most likely figured being too focused on Mukuro was not a good idea for someone who was supposed to be my protection. "Ugh, damn it! Cheetah Channel!" Ken's hair color went back to normal as he removed the previous set of teeth and inserted another one afterwards, his eyes turning red and some 'spots' appear all over him.

_So the sets of teeth emulate animals...?_ Having reached that conclusion fairly quickly, I flinched when I saw Ken trying to reach me, the trauma resurfacing. However, despite the fact that Mukuro had also started attacking Bluebell with his trident, Bluebell had been able to swiftly dodge that and stop Ken right in time. "Nyuu~, as if you'd pass!"

Bluebell let out her tongue to him in a teasing way, really treating them as if they were inferior to her in every possible way. Knowing that I was safe, I went ahead and tried picking up cherry blossom tree branches. While I did that, I spotted Hibari staring at me, though (as expected) not in the nicest of ways; I decided I was better off ignoring him. After all, I was clearly doing something that would benefit him, so I had no need to pay any mind to his strange attitude.

Throwing what I could away, I came back and saw some fangirls smiling at me while brutally murdering— I mean, attacking the Kokuyo fangirls, seriously approving of my actions; I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not... "Keep going, we'll take care of the enemy!" a Namimori fangirl said as she finished off a Kokuyo fangirl, seemingly unfazed. _Seriously, fangirls are scary..._

However, snapping me out of such unpleasant thoughts was the Namimori Swarm Representative, who had nudged my arm (the one that wasn't injured). "You shouldn't over-do it, you're injured. Here, take this." As much as that contradicted with what the fangirls had just told me, I didn't really care as it really wasn't a good idea to over-do it while injured, and I had gone through a lot already. Afterwards, she gave me a pink bag that I would definitely not walk around with and went to take care of the little Kokuyo fangirls left, a somewhat determined expression on her face.

... Deciding to ignore the sight of the fangirls entirely, I sat down and opened the bag only to see a first-aid kit and an ominous book with many, many pages. Since my instincts immediately warned me not to even touch it, I just took out the first-aid kit with a hopeful gaze.

While I truly had no idea why fangirls had first-aid kits with them, I found that really convenient so I didn't complain. _Well, I guess when you have wars like this, you need a first-aid kit, huh..._ I narrowed my eyes in disdain.

_Ugh, that means they had many wars already..._

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**Author's Notes:**

* * *

You know, I didn't notice this at all before, but wow, Observer-chan was way less of a good person before: like, holy shit, one of the first sentences in this chapter was, "(...), I demanded out of Bluebell, resisting the urge to _kick her in the face_," I mean, wow, that's awful 0.0 Either way, to keep the characterization I have finalized later on, I removed that, like other things that also lingered in the previous chapters. It really makes me cringe how much worse my writing was before, and I don't even think this re-written version has exactly the same quality as my latest chapters, which were written in that quality from scratch: meanwhile, in here, I have to keep to certain guidelines. However, I cannot at all deny that this chapter has improved from how it was before, as the others surely will when I get to them.

Whatever the case, this chapter was a merge between former Chapter 21 and former Chapter 22, and they went together quite well, in my opinion. Unfortunately, in some other cases, there are lone chapters that are kind of short but can't be merged with other chapters either since they have some sort of shocking revelation I want to leave to the end; those chapters are somewhat troublesome. However, I'll pull through! If I got this far in re-writing everything, I definitely can re-write the rest. Anyway, look forward to the next chapter?


	16. Chapter 15

**First words:**

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**KeLeer MiMi - Well, I never had a friend that liked anime in the first place so I remained 'pure'? Yeah... As if XD I guess yaoi was never my thing. I also especially hate shota yaoi, it's pretty bad... Ugh. Lol Poor Kyoko, it's not her fault that Tsuna has a crush on her! I don't know, I never really hated a character for those motives but to each their own? Eliza is a pretty name by the way, not because of the meaning, just because I really think it sounds pretty ^^**

Anyway, this chapter... I confused it with the next chapter so when I talked about it in the last chapter and read this one I was like, "Ah... The jokes are on the next one." Since I'm at like Chapter 20-something this forgetfulness is justified, no? Either way, I'd say that this Chapter says something about Observer-chan and that's that she is a bit... morally inclined to good. You'd think that's she's more neutral than anything but you know, I wouldn't say that. Whatever, let's start the chapter already.

**Fun facts:**

**\- There are more pink bags than the one that the Representative gave away, that's why she gave it to Observer-chan in the first place (if not, she'd be keeping it to herself because of its contents);**

**\- The Leader of fanclub actually knitted those bags herself because she likes that kind of thing (but she didn't tell anyone because she's embarrassed of that even though that'd be more cool than embarrassing).**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 15: In which my stupidity is maxed out**

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I was pretty sure that a lot of time passed while I was in this dark place. I didn't figure it out because of the light I could see from beyond the couch, it was really just my instinct telling me that a lot of time passed.

I was actually sitting on that couch myself, my wound now properly bandaged (not really since I'm not that good at that kind of thing). Bluebell was still holding off both Ken and Mukuro at the same time, which was really amazing and scary at the same time.

I took my cellphone out of my pocket only to see that the first classes were over and that my class would be having Math by now (being the second class of the day). _Oh, my mom is totally going to kill me, I can already feel it..._

The Namimori fangirls had now won the** HFW I** (Holy Fangirl War I) and they were picking up the remaining cherry tree branches while others were actually sweeping the fallen cherry blossoms with a broom (I have no idea on how they even found one in the first place)!

Since I was already patched up (or so they say) I decided to go help them to make the work faster. Well, that's until I saw that Hibari could stand up and walk straight now. Treading through the corpses as if they were nothing, Hibari started heading to the battleground of Bluebell, Mukuro and Ken, looking pissed off.

"What you did... I'll bite you to death for it." Hibari was already threatening Mukuro, wielding those tonfas in a fighting stance. For some reason, the three actually stopped their current fight to face him which didn't seem like the best course of action but whatever, they were the ones fighting.

Speaking of fighting, now that everyone was perfectly distracted, wouldn't it be the best time to leave? "Kufufu... And you think that you will be able to defeat me, even though your full power would still not be enough? I've seen many as strong as you and I've killed them all as well. It's pathetic to even think you have a chance."

"I don't care about whoever you killed, I'll bite you to death anyway." _That's pretty confident for someone who's weak against cherry blossoms._ I rolled my eyes as I spectated this a bit more.

I wasn't completely sure if I had to bring Bluebell with me or whatever so I was still there or I would've gotten out of here already. "Kufufufu... If you can even do such a thing, of course." Ken was more focused on Mukuro than anything and Bluebell was staring at Hibari with a pout.

I got closer to her and whispered, "Hey, we should get out now." She glanced at me and that pout disappeared right away, replaced by another annoyed expression. I was getting used to that by now, since that was pretty much what she'd do to me.

"Hmph, just when things were getting fun... protecting you is such a pain and saying that is making me sound like Zakuro now!" Whoever this 'Zakuro' person was, he (at least the name didn't sound all that feminine so I was assuming that it would be a guy) seemed to be pretty lazy.

I didn't really care about what kind of people Bluebell knew though, as I was too busy thinking of my own survival. "Whatever, let's go. It's not like they'd be strong enough to keep fighting me anyway..." Bluebell said as she started heading to that exit, me following her from behind while looking all around me.

They (Mukuro and Ken) were still somewhat distracted with Hibari who was fighting pretty well for someone who had been so shamefully defeated by fangirls. Ken didn't seem to be keeping up with Hibari but it wasn't as bad as Bluebell, whom he couldn't even touch. "Get back!"

I bumped into her and flinched from what she said. _What are you doing, this is our chance!_ When I actually stopped being distracted and looked ahead, I saw something that I really didn't want to see.

A bloody figure was walking towards the room, his leg limp and his face tired, although not that emotional. I did as Bluebell said and stepped back as that guy (since it was a guy) seemed to have noticed us. His eyes were still somewhat dull though, and it didn't look like he was planning to do much beyond maybe passing out from blood loss.

_Speaking of that, how is he not passing out from blood loss right now?!_ However, when he actually reached this room, his eyes closed and he fell to the floor with no hesitation.

This obviously made us (Bluebell and I) be noticed as we were close to him. "Oh? It looks like Chikusa took quite the beating... Could it be that we finally got a 'hit'?" _A 'hit'? What is he talking about, was there something that he was 'missing'?_ Whatever Mukuro was saying, it seemed really suspicious.

"Kaki-pi looks so lame, he got his ass kicked by his target!" Ken was grinning with his tongue out, not even looking that sad for what would be his comrade since that guy on the floor (who was presumably called Chikusa) was wearing a Kokuyo Uniform.

Hibari didn't even spare him a glance and kept trying to bite Mukuro to death, not having made much progress with that. "And it also looks like that girl was trying to escape. Did you think that we wouldn't remember you?" I sighed in frustration, having missed my chance to get out of this terrible place.

"Nyuu~, you can't stop her from doing anything as long as I'm here!" Even though she mentioned me, Bluebell seemed to be more focused on saying that she was really strong as if boasting although that wasn't even necessary since her strength was pretty obvious.

I looked down at the guy on the floor and glanced at the bag that I still had from the Namimori Swarm Representative, coming up with some pretty stupid ideas. _Well, he kind of needs it... No, that's dumb, I'm not treating the damned enemy, that'll only get me killed instead!_

I sat down on the floor anyway, taking that first aid kit out of the bag. _No seriously, what am I doing, this is bad!_ That was the rational part of me shouting those words in my mind but the other part couldn't just stare at this guy who was greatly injured without doing anything about it.

My most bored part gave the excuse of having nothing to do but the morally correct part told me that it would just be nice of me to do it. _Well, it's not like I'm that good with treating other people or even myself for that matter so even if I go ahead and do that, he wouldn't heal, right? He probably couldn't even touch me either, seeing that he could barely move before._

_So maybe I'll go ahead and succumb to my dumb morally correct part for a second while taking my boredom away..._ "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Bluebell had a blank look on her face as she saw me doing something that was dumb enough to warrant such a thing.

"... I know, alright? You don't have to tell me on how stupid this is."

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**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

Oh my, I'm making Observer-chan do stupid things. Well, but then again, if you think about the fact that Chikusa was extremely wounded at the time and Observer-chan is not at all fit to do that kind of thing, I don't think it would actually make a difference to him.

And in the actual series, Chikusa got his wounds nicely treated and stuff but the difference is that Hibari had already gotten his ass kicked by then; now that he didn't get his ass kicked and Observer-chan could buy that much time from Kokuyo (involuntarily), they can't really go about worrying over Chikusa, no?

And then there's Bluebell who Mukuro would not be able to defeat ever but he's also holding back because he doesn't want to get too serious. I mean, it would be kind of bad if the Tenth Boss of the Vongola (or I guess the candidate for the position) would come and Mukuro was like super injured and fatigued from using his powers so he's not going to get too serious just to get rid of a girl that happened to follow Hibari.

I'm so glad that this is AU, I can make all changes that I want as long as it doesn't bury me in plot holes!


	17. Chapter 16

**First words:**

* * *

Oh, this chapter... It's a pretty ridiculous chapter although I'd say that the next chapter is extra ridiculous... or was it the one after that? I don't know but it's either one of them. Even though you might not notice it, I'm scared shitless of writing Bluebell wrong. Honestly, I'm scared of writing pretty much all of the Funeral Wreaths wrong so I always have to re-watch episodes. The same applies to some other characters in the series but I get really scared since Bluebell interacting with characters like Mukuro and such just doesn't actually happen so it really challenges your knowledge on the characters.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Although it's not surprising to know that Hibari is not aware of what exactly the fangirls do beyond crowding (because he really doesn't care), Mukuro is also not aware of all that fangirls do beyond whatever he tells them to do. Ken, Chikusa and everyone of the Kokuyo Gang however, are well aware of the contents of their Albums;**

**\- Bluebell might seem like she knows about Byakuran's plan but she really doesn't know anything significative; the only one that might know a little bit is maybe Kikyo but even that is uncertain.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 16: Troubling myself over stupid things**

* * *

I was still treating my enemy's wounds like the dumbest person to ever exist on Earth (and sucking at it too) while Bluebell was glaring at me and Hibari was... still fighting. Well, he wasn't really winning but he still wasn't injured to the point where it would be impossible for him to even hurt Mukuro or Ken.

Whatever the case, Hibari was still trying to bite everything to death and once in a while, Ken would go after me but it would fail because Bluebell wouldn't let him do anything. At least it served as a warning that they were still watching me. _You should be thankful, damn it!_

"You know, you should just go away already," Bluebell suggested, not even glaring anymore. She seemed more bored than anything, looking down on me as I was almost done with this. But still, the first aid kit had way more bandages and the like than any normal first aid kit, almost as if it was supposed to treat a lot of people...

The fact that there was a neatly compressed pack full of Hibari-themed Band-Aids was already creepy enough but the fact that there were variations according to whatever Hibari wears was even worse. _Even I'm not cruel enough to put one of these on this guy, even though he's hurt in the face too..._

_But it looks like I have no other choice..._ I was way more amused than I should've been and it showed; the smirk on my face and that strange giggle I let out was enough proof of that. _I guess the winter uniform-themed one would go better here..._ I was so distracted in this that I didn't even remind myself to answer Bluebell's actually intelligent suggestion.

"Nyuu~, listen to me, damn it! I'm not going to stand around just to make sure you can be an idiot so now get out of this place or I'll kill you!" She seemed pretty serious with that threat, breaking my concentration on the stupid things I was doing. _Damn, I should be ashamed of myself._

_... I don't think I'll touch a first aid kit that belongs to a group of fangirls ever again, I'm pretty sure that those corrupted me a little._ I dropped it as if it were filthy and did as Bluebell said, running away from the room. "Hey, you better not think you're going anywhere- Ugh!" The one to strike Ken down was Hibari who had seen that chance to finish him off easily.

He looked pretty bad already so it was really surprising that he lasted that long. "Kufufufu, and you think I'll make it that easy for you?" As I ran straight ahead I found myself at the same place as if I hadn't moved at all. I tried it again but it did look like no one was planning on having me leave.

As much as I ran, I'd always end up in the same spot anyway. "That's an illusion again!"

I tried my hardest not to slap myself for all the stupid things that I had been doing as I had already forgotten about illusions. _Seriously, I think I'm especially dumber today..._ That illusion faded away fast as I started running away, this time actually reaching other places.

There was one problem that I found with this though: I didn't know the way out! I mean, I had followed Hibari and all but I didn't go through the effort of trying to remember what path I would have to take as I assumed that Hibari would kick Mukuro's ass.

"Why are you stopping?" She asked curiously for a change, not glaring at me at all. There were two paths and I had no idea on which path to take. I reminding myself of the time that I followed Hibari but most of those memories were filled with me watching Hibari bite a whole lot of Kokuyo students to death.

I stared at the ground in both embarrassment and frustration. "That's because I don't know where to go." I glanced to the left and to the right, still coming up with no decision on which path to take.

"Just take a random path and go with it! You don't have time to think about that kind of stuff." She was probably referring to Mukuro and assuming that Hibari wouldn't win against him which was kind of crushing my hopes.

Besides, if Hibari wouldn't be able to beat Mukuro that would mean that Mukuro was stronger than Hibari and Hibari was already strong to begin with... This train of thoughts was actually scaring me so I decided to just randomly pick a path and go along with it.

Bluebell was following me, walking with no shoes. _Doesn't it hurt at all? You'd think that there are lots of small pebbles and things that would hurt your feet._ I dismissed that for the time being since Bluebell was an angel so she probably had her reasons for whatever inhuman action that she would take.

At the end of that path were those broken stairs and I sighed, thinking back on what happened with Hibari in this place. "I guess you'll help me down...?" I meekly asked because I wasn't really sure that Bluebell would do anything to help me in the first place, even if she was supposedly my Holy Protection.

"Just shut up and grab onto me, okay? I can't get you more wounds than that one." I didn't know why, but I felt like she was really serious with that last sentence and not in a good way. It was as if something bad would happen to her if I got more injured even though she still sounded somewhat annoyed by my presence.

I did what she said yet again and grabbed onto her while she started flying like Hibari would, except the flames propelling her were blue and not purple. This didn't work that well since Bluebell was shorter than me so this was wobbly, to say the least.

She got down to the floor and let me go as fast as she possibly could and she had a weird sort of annoyed pout and glare directed at me. "You're so heavy! You better not want to go back there because I'm not taking you up, you hear me?"

"I got it, I got it. You know, you don't have to be so pissed off at me, it's not like I don't know that you didn't want to do this at all or anything." This would be kind of rude from me but considering that she was already pretty rude to me in the first place, it was only fair of me to be somewhat rude too.

This time, the glare disappeared but the pout was still there, making her look really childish. "I'll be angry whenever I want!" She looked down at the floor, almost as if she were kind of confused. "Why did Byakuran want me to do this anyway? It's not like you're anything special."

"I don't know either, that's my question!" I exclaimed in an attempt to emphasize the fact that I wanted answers and I wanted them badly. "What's his deal anyway? Is he planning something weird or whatever?"

She looked up at me again, her expression changing to a sort of mischievous smile. "Nyuu~, as if I'd ever tell you about that! Byakuran's plans are top secret!" It seemed kind of strange: she was especially emotional (in a positive or negative way) whenever she mentioned His Divine Presence, as if He were really important to her.

Was He? I'd guess that God would probably be important in her life but not like _that._ I was almost going to ask myself about that but I then looked at the other set of stairs on the opposite side of the ones that we got down from.

"Hey, did the other path that I could take also lead to this area...?" I asked, my words kind of slow. I was still processing if that was possible since I really didn't want it to be true.

After all, it was pretty bad to have to choose a path as if it would make a difference. "Maybe it does, I dunno. I'd say it does though since it's so close to the other stairs."

I hung my head low in shame. _I just want to go home now..._

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Yeah right Observer-chan, you're staying whether you want it or not. I'm so mean to her, she gets in the shittiest of situations. Whatever, I'm kind of getting close to the end of the Kokuyo Arc. Well, just kind of since there's still M.M, Birds, Lanchia and the final fight with Mukuro...


	18. Chapter 17

**First words:**

* * *

**KeeLer MiMi - Ah, don't worry, I should've also made it a bit more obvious since this is the internet and you can't exactly hear the sarcastic tone of things! Seriously though, it's fine ^^ Like, I am a failure to all fangirls, how could I have not thought of that?! I'm not fangirl enough and it backfired, damn it... It would've been so hilarious though! For now though, I have to finish the Kokuyo Arc! Even though I say that, I'm still not done with it and I'm 7 chapters ahead of this one... T_T  
**

This chapter... is kind of ridiculous if you consider the end of it. But honestly, the next chapter's way worse in terms of being ridiculous so this isn't so bad? _You've been saying that since chapter 15!_ I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! I confuse chapters! Seriously though, it might look like I'm messing around in this chapter but the next one is even worse. Now that I think about it though, I'd say that I've been messing around since Chapter 1.

Observer-chan referred to a 'sansetsu-something' which she actually meant as **sansetsukon** although she had forgotten the name. It's pretty much a nunchuku-thing-a-majigs that's divided in three different parts except that Observer-chan was referring to the japanese term for it.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Observer-chan's father has the hobby of researching about weapons so he knows a lot about them; he also likes telling all about it to Observer-chan since he knows that his wife would not have the patience to do it. Observer-chan didn't have it either but she'd hide it from him and pretend that she'd listen to everything he said. Thanks to that, Observer-chan knows a bit about certain weapons and that was why Observer-chan knew about tonfas in the first place;  
**

**\- The Mukuro fanclub is strangely organized with various different positions, although it might not seem like it: that's because from the Kokuyo Gang's point-of-view it's pretty much Mukuro's personal slave Army so Mukuro was the one that made it so organized. That's not to say that he ran into some... _problems_ while doing it but he pulled it off probably due to being a Master Illusionist since no normal person could ever do something like that.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 17: Kokuyo's Treasurer**

* * *

Bluebell and I ended up wandering around the area, not really knowing where to go. It was still surprising to know that this angel apparently didn't possess any sort of knowledge on actual locations beyond what His Divine Presence would tell her since any normal person would assume that she would be all-knowing.

I mean, wouldn't that be more reassuring as Holy Protection? _Well, Byakuran's sole existence is not reassuring at all so that might be it..._ "Nyuu~! I'm sick of this, I'm breaking this wall and we're getting out of here!" I snapped my head towards Bluebell, now with her water blade... arm or whatever and going to the wall.

"Wait, this is abandoned, wouldn't this collapse or something?!" I asked in fear of that actually happening. It probably wasn't going to happen but I at least didn't want to take that risk. She turned to me, paused for a bit and then let her tongue out in a childish way.

I could only give her a blank stare but she wasn't even looking at me anymore as she was going to destroy that wall with her powers of... I didn't even know.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

I flinched and Bluebell immediately turned around, me doing the same. What I saw in front of me was truly scary: a Kokuyo (Middle School) uniform. It wasn't really the Kokuyo uniform that was scary, but the fact that this person was wearing it, therefore that person was with Mukuro. "Nyu?"

"Yeah, you! The brat with the water arm!" _Water arm? You don't even know what it is either, huh?_ I looked at the girl in the Kokuyo uniform and I had to admit, she was really pretty. She had short red hair and purple (I guess violet?) eyes, although she was wearing the hideously green uniform.

In any case, I was being really ignored in this situation even though I was closer to her. "It's none of your business!" Bluebell replied, not as angry as one would be when saying something like that.

"You know, you're pissing me off." With a glare, she took out... a clarinet? "I'll take care of you right here!"

_What's up with people taking out weird things as if they were the deadliest weapon to exist? The worst part is when they're _actually_ deadly!_ "Ooooh, scary~," Bluebell teased, as confident as ever.

"Hmph, you won't even have the time to be scared once you get hit by this!" She played a bit of that clarinet and Bluebell jumped to the side as if dodging something. But what would she be dodging in the first place? _She didn't attack... did she?_

The girl was still playing the clarinet and Bluebell was still somewhat 'avoiding' whatever she was trying to avoid. "Nyuu~, that's so lame! I can finish you off in a second!" _Well, I think anyone would call an invisible attack lame._

"As if, you brat! I'd wonder on how you even ended up here!" I'd react, but there wasn't much to say. Somehow, this girl wasn't even 'aiming' at me, whatever it was. _At least I know that it involves that clarinet._

Even so, that wasn't enough for me to figure out on what exactly this girl's attack was. "Don't call me a brat, you pushover~! That attack is useless against me!" Bluebell exclaimed and without even being able to see her, she got behind the girl.

I wish I knew her name... The girl gasped, looking really surprised with her hand covering her mouth. "Oh no, I'm done for!"

"... Or, is that what you wanted me to say? You know, I'm a close range-fighter too!" With a confident smile, the girl aimed a kick at Bluebell who dodged that just as easily as her musical attacks.

Jumping back, her clarinet was suddenly divided in pieces and almost worked like that one weapon, um... Uh... Sansetsu-something...? _Damn, I remember my father talking about it but I forgot its name!_ Swinging it a whole lot, she went for a hit on Bluebell but that predictably failed because Bluebell was apparently super strong. "Nyun, you miss again~."

"Hmph, let's see if you say that again!" I was still at the side, ignored for this fight that was really uninteresting to me. Well, my interests were obviously to get away so maybe that is what I should be doing? _But seeing as there was this girl wandering about on this place, wouldn't there be any other Kokuyo person doing the same?_

I kind of zoned out in my thoughts and I could see that the girl made no progress at all in even hurting Bluebell. Bluebell wasn't even trying to do anything, she was simply dodging. She was amused at first but she was now pouting, as if really bored. "I'm sick of you, this sucks~."

"You're really pissing me off... I'd better get a raise for finishing you off so I can go shopping after this," The girl muttered with a glare similar to how Bluebell would glare at me: as if I was a huge burden and a problematic existence. I'd say that in this case Bluebell wasn't really a burden but she would definitely be the problematic existence.

From a glare to a smile, her mood changed quickly. "As the Treasurer of the Mukuro fanclub, here's my final move!" _Treasurer? What is that fanclub, Student Council?_ I couldn't even take her seriously from how lame that sounded. "Listen to this and bow down to Mukuro-chan's awesomeness!"

_Even though you say that, you call him 'Mukuro-chan'?_ Somehow, I got reminded of Bluebell and I did not feel like doing that comparison. Her clarinet going back to normal as she got some distance away from Bluebell, said angel only looked curiously.

"Mukuro's theme!"

_What...? How does that even relate to the fact that you're the 'Treasurer' of the fanclub?!_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Yes, M.M made Mukuro's theme (not really, credit _the actual guy_ behind the awesome soundtrack of the series) except it would totally sound more high-pitched on a clarinet. Well then I guess she made a cover of it on the clarinet, whatever, you will still bow down at Mukuro's awesomeness by hearing it; I know I did and I'm not even that much of a Mukuro fan. If only she could've had a guitar so she could do a solo right there with the last part of his theme...

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter?


	19. Chapter 18

**First words:**

* * *

**KeeLer MiMi - Damn, if only _I _could have merchandise of an anime that I really liked... I have heard of Kuroko no Basket but I haven't watched it so yeah, let's just say that I don't know Kuroko no Basket. Well, it's not easy for me to be jealous of something but I guess I can understand. Besides, I think being blunt is a great trait and I wish I could find that in people that I've met so I'd say she sounds pretty cool. I never really understood what made Tsuna so great and popular beyond the fact that he's the protagonist but I have to admit that I find many of his actions and motivations to be admirable so that might be it?**

** Eliza is such a rare name (at least from where I come from) but it sounds pretty to me, I guess everyone has differing opinions ^^'? Wow, she read my fic? Thank you or thank her for me if she won't continue read it or I don't even know- (XD) I'm also picky when it comes to fanfiction so I can definitely understand that mine is kind of average/decent since if I were to read it (without me writing it), I'd probably think the same thing. Even though I said that, I still think that it's average and I wrote it so... By the way, how many chapters did she read? I'm just kind of curious about that. My sense of humor is kind of weird so reading other humor stories is not a bad idea although I have to say that I already read plenty of them. I'd say this problem actually stems from the fact that I'm not exactly the most extreme of people...**

That was _HUUUUUUUUUGE_ and I hope that I'm forgiven for that, I really try to not make huge text walls at this first words part... I finally got this chapter right, this is the one that I think is extra ridiculous! This time, I'm not mistaken! On a completely unrelated note though, I kind of gave up my "always 10 chapters ahead" thing since I kind of want to write my chapters calmly so even if I'm some chapters behind I won't worry and just write whatever comes to mind without that pressure. Because of this, I have a feeling that you might catch up to me eventually... when that happens though, I'll be screwed because I won't be able to post chapters daily.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Even though Observer-chan will completely deny it she has pretty much automatically converted herself to the Byakuranist faith involuntarily by being called to Heaven; in other words, she is considered as such (Byakuranist) by everything (even Nature) but herself;**

**\- Byakuran _is_ watching these events from Heaven (while eating marshmallows too) and he _is _acting on those events: he just doesn't really care about being mentioned at all (^^ - Byakuran's normal mood and expression from Heaven even while being insulted). His actions towards whatever's happening and whether he is actually omniscient though, that's a secret ;D**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 18: In which Byakuranism is now a thing**

* * *

A very eerie and atmospheric melody was played with that clarinet and as good as that sounded, I was not worshipping Mukuro yet. "Is that all?" Bluebell asked, looking bored.

"It didn't work?!" _Why are you so surprised?!_ Did it actually work on other people? I really didn't want to know that.

Even after all this, I was still being ignored at the corner presumably because I was that weak. _As insulting as that is, this is a good thing._ I never wanted to fight anything anyway. "Nyuu~, of course it didn't, I'm already part of a fanclub!"

_Like what?!_ I hoped that it wasn't the Hibari fanclub but then again, she refused to help him so that was definitely not the answer. _And wait, if it's only supposed to work on non-fangirls then why the hell am I not affected, am I supposed to be part of some fanclub?!_

That thought alone was pretty insulting. "What? There's no fanclub in Kokuyo other than Mukuro-chan's! Did you come from Namimori or something?" _Ah, so fanclubs to actual celebrities are excluded from this..._ It was almost impossible to take this conversation seriously.

"As if! Our fanclub is way better than something from Namimori!" Bluebell exclaimed with a confident smile, using 'our' as if to include me.

_... She can't be including me, right? I mean, she has more people that she knows, right? Do other angels even join fanclubs?_ I could only hope that there were more angels in Heaven like her so that she wouldn't be talking about me.

_Almost-naked little girls...?_ I cleansed all strange thoughts out of my mind relating to His Divine Presence's preferences and focused on what was really important: Seeing if I could get the hell out of here! "Hmph, then what is your fanclub about? It can't possibly have a better theme than Mukuro-chan's!"

"That's what you think! Byakuran's theme is the best theme ever! It's way creepier than what that other guy's theme could ever be!" _Wait wait wait, she can't possibly mean that there is such a thing as a Byakuran fanclub, right?_ My brain was about to melt from all this nonsense.

I'd say that part of me was more in despair for having found that out than anything. _Byakuranism?_ "Byakuran? Who's that? I bet he's way lamer than Mukuro-chan, he probably doesn't pay you a cent!" The girl said mockingly as she laughed while Bluebell was glaring at her.

To be fair, I could bet that His Divine Presence really doesn't pay her. "As if I'd need something as stupid as money, Byakuran is too awesome to even care about that!" _I don't think it's because he's awesome, it's more because he's God..._ "If he wanted, he could have way more fangirls than the ones in your fanclub in a second!" _Yeah, that's because he's **freaking God...!**_

"Does that mean that he doesn't even have fangirls to begin with?" This girl was laughing her ass off for all the wrong reasons. Well, logic wasn't expected since this conversation was going on... "That's lamer than I thought! How can that even be called a fanclub, you poser!"

Even though I was wondering if I should get out of here at first, I got to a conclusion on this quickly: I really _should_ get out of here! Unfortunately, I couldn't see how it would be good for me if I went alone. _Damn it, and Bluebell's still fighting her!_ "Nyuu~...! I'll seriously kill you!" Considering that this was Bluebell, she was probably pretty serious about that. "If I tell you that Byakuran can have way more fangirls than that other guy, then _he_ _freaking can!_ Look at her right there! _She's_ in the club!"

**"What?!"** Bluebell was pointing at me as if she was actually serious. "Why the hell would you assume that?!" I asked bluntly and loudly, having been heavily offended. Besides, I was already sure of the fact that Bluebell was not allowed kill me for some reason so I was practically safe.

Well, at least that's what I assumed since she's supposedly my Holy Protection. "If that attack didn't work on you then you're obviously in Byakuran's fanclub, duh! Who else would you be a fangirl of?!" Bluebell said as she pointed at me accusingly. _Don't judge my sanity on whether I get affected by an attack or not!_

_Besides, was I supposed to be affected to begin with?!_ "I'm not a fangirl of anything!" I protested as I didn't like it when my sanity was insulted. Even though some of my friends would sometimes obsess over their favorite celebrity, I still hadn't joined the dark side... yet. _I only like that band's music not the vocalist's looks, shut up!_

... Kicking that dark side out of my mind was as hard as it looked. "Even your friend's denying it, what a joke!" _Why am I immediately considered to be her friend?_ The irony of this was that I was only noticed now of all times. "I guess I'll just do it again, maybe it'll get through your skulls next time."

_Is she planning on doing that attack again?_ I mean, the fact that it was an attack kind of sucked but the music in itself was pretty cool so I didn't particularly mind that. "Nyuu~, that's it, you're going to die!" Getting behind the girl so fast that I didn't even see her do it was Bluebell who was already grabbing that clarinet. "But first I'll destroy this stupid thing!"

"W-what do you think you're doing?!" This time, the girl actually seemed scared although more surprised than anything. Before she could react though, Bluebell had already broken the clarinet in half, sticking her tongue out at the girl in victory. "How dare you?! You brat, I'll kill you!"

The sheer outrage was unmistakable: that clarinet was probably important to her. "Nyun~, I'm getting ready to kill yo-" Bluebell suddenly disappeared from the face of the Earth without completing that sentence, the broken clarinet dropping to the floor and leaving me to look at this scene, my eyes widened.

"Where did that brat go? I still have to make her pay for this!" The girl glared at me as if I had anything to do with this but I didn't even care, Bluebell was gone! _Why…? Why did she disappear? That girl over there can fight, you know?! What am I supposed to do now?!_

_Where's the Holy Protection when I freaking need it?!_

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

This chapter was extra ridiculous, I did not plan this at all. Either way, I still had a ton of fun with this. What sucks is that I'm afraid of making M.M or Bluebell OOC since I'm not that good at writing them. I tried my best though (and did a lot of research and re-watching of episodes) so I hope that was enough.

While I realized that this chapter was going on an entirely different direction than what I was planning, I thought that maybe Byakuran could go and do something but that just wouldn't be God-ish enough since God doesn't do stuff directly! Well, even though I'm saying that Byakuran ain't got no time for Godly Manners in his arc, at least when I get to it.

I'm still going on a huge brainstorm for details though, so look forward to that...? Even though judging by this arc's length, the Future Arc would be at like Chapter 60? ^^'


	20. Chapter 19

**First words:**

* * *

**KeeLer MiMi - Wow, that sucks... Speaking of that, I definitely won't have as much free time as I do from Tuesday on. Haha, I wonder if I can keep up the daily updates... I'd say that 5 would be the absolute average but lol 6 is cool, let's keep it at 6 XD You know, you kind of already said what your friend thought of this story and I answered it in the previous chapter but you didn't read that much ahead when you wrote this review so it's fine ^^' I'm not mad since as I said in my previous answer, I'm also very picky about fanfiction and even I'd rate my own fic as somewhat average/decent. But wait, she's picky yet she can't pick between her favorite authors? That's... ironic? ^^' **

**I _am_ grateful for the advice by the way and I did go read some fics and I have to say that it's really that my sense of humor is different from other fics because even when I screw around I feel compelled to be serious at same time too, which probably makes it less 'fun' and more bipolar. And then again, Observer-chan makes the story more serious because she takes stuff seriously and that's probably a flaw since this is supposed to be completely ridiculous... Damn you Observer-chan!  
**

Either way, I always feel like you're all really catching up to me but when I see the actual chapter count I facepalm due to the fact that you're really not. Well, the fact that I'm taking a whole lot of time to write Chapter 25 is pretty bad considering that by this point I should already be at Chapter 29 but oh well, I'll get Chapter 25 over with for sure and get back to the rest of the arc. By the way, I'm still at the Kokuyo Arc and I'm not even at Mukuro yet. _Progress, oh yeah!_

**Fun facts:**

**\- Since Birds is (currently) in the Kokuyo Gang, Mukuro also has control of his birds; unfortunately, not every bird is at his disposal...**

**\- Speaking of that, the Mukuro fanclub, unbeknowst to Mukuro himself, have made a deal with Birds: Birds would take all the pictures to fill the album with his awesome birds and the fanclub would pay him. That was probably a smart deal considering that he would get defeated in this Arc and he'd probably not get paid enough.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 19: My sanity is tested**

* * *

"Hey, are you even listening to me?!" The girl asked, somewhat pissed off at me ignoring her when ironically, she had been ignoring me before. Besides, it was pretty hard to concentrate on what was around me when I was kind of panicking here!

What was I going to do without Holy Protection? I had no way to defend myself and I'm not the fastest of runners. It made me realize that Bluebell actually was giving back that sense of safety that I had before since she was that strong. "Does it look like I care...?"

"What did you just say?" Even now, I had that sense of security. Somehow, I still felt like nothing could really touch me. Maybe this was all a very long dream, an Alice in Wonderland situation.

I could buy that. "Does it look like I care?! I'm sick of this, go away!" I was being pretty bold right now and really, throughout all of this I was being bold to begin with. Maybe I hadn't noticed that before? It was probably because I didn't feel like having things not go my way.

"Aren't you being a little too over-confident? Even without my weapon, I can take care of you just fine!" As she went towards me, I really started to panic. _Dream or not, what the hell am I supposed to do?!_

**. . .**

_Yeah right, after this much time with weird stuff happening to me, it would be weirder if I still thought it was a dream!_ Because of that, I decided that it was probably a good idea to accept this as reality and run away.

Before I could do that though, the wall behind me exploded. _Wait, what?_

"What the...?" That was my reaction from what I could see, everything being too weird.

First, a corpse. At least it looked like a corpse since the old man was passed out. Whatever the case, he had a Kokuyo uniform. _How would that happen, I'm pretty sure he's too old to be in school!_

Second, beyond the debris I could see the outside. Apparently, I was that close to the way out. Maybe I really should've let Bluebell destroy a wall since I could've gotten out of here just as fast!

Third, everyone. _Everyone...?_ Right away I could see Tsuna, Reborn, Gokudera and Yamamoto. With them was a woman with somewhat red (or maybe dull pink) long hair, although not as long as something like Bluebell but the color was totally different in that case. Whoever it was, she happened to be wearing goggles for some reason.

_What are they doing here?_ It was definitely suspicious but they also seemed to be suspecting me, looking at me with incredulous faces. Well, except for that woman since she didn't know me. "You!" Gokudera was the first to act up on this, glaring at me fiercely. "So you were a traitor all along!"

"Gokudera-kun, wait! What if she was also taken away?" _Taken away? Someone was kidnapped and brought here? But who?_ The voice of His Divine Presence rang in my mind as I remembered His words:

_"The Disciplinary Committee is in danger and so are some of your friends, who would do such a thing~?"_

Because of those dark thoughts, I was almost forgetting the girl that was going to kill me, as I glanced at her for a second. "H-hey, would you mind helping me out?! I'm in a bit of a bad situation here!" I ran away from the area to get closer to the others as the girl was going after me.

"Don't you dare think you can get away!" It sucked that she was faster than me so she was almost reaching me. This was made even scarier because I was pretty sure that no one was as fast as Bluebell so no one would be able to protect me.

_I shouldn't get used to being protected..._ As I was kind of close to them already, the girl stopped, knowing that it was probably not a good idea to chase me further. "So she's not on their side?" Gokudera asked to clarify, still somewhat suspecting me.

"Judging by the situation, I'd say it's just the opposite. Besides, it looks like the people here use matching uniforms." The one to give this intelligent insight was actually Reborn of all people, who was staring at the girl.

Hideously green uniforms aside, it was still pretty obvious that this girl wanted to kill me more than anything so there was no way that I was on her side. "Who would ever mistake that? She's way lamer than the people from Kokuyo," the girl remarked mockingly.

_Oh why thank you very much for that, I appreciate it!_ "Says the one with the ugly green uniform," Gokudera retorted, and that was probably the best sentence I had ever heard him say.

"Hmph, I wouldn't be wearing this thing if Mukuro-chan hadn't told me to!" She exclaimed in disdain, still acknowledging that the uniform was kind of ugly. "Whatever, I'll just kill you and this will be all over!"

_Good effort but how do you plan on fighting all these people at the same time?_ "You're outnumbered, you might as well give up now. If not..." The woman said threateningly as she took out what looked like a plate full of purple... slimy... _dry..._ oozing weird smoke... thing...

... Seriously, what the hell was I looking at? _Is that supposed to be food?!_

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

Oh damn, I was almost getting a huge blank when the Vongola met up with Observer-chan since I was kind of like, **"Who'd speak in this situation?! _Who?!"_** But it ended up okay since Bianchi was here to help! I like how Bianchi is kind of cool in the Kokuyo Arc since it's really the only arc in which she kicks ass.

Because of that, I want her to keep kicking ass but I never really know exactly what I'm doing with my chapters, even when I have a plan. I had completely different plans for this chapter and it ended up like this! By the way, Yamamoto never got to fight Ken so he's in top shape, the only person that they ended up fighting was Birds.

And not much was really changed for Birds except for what I unfortunately couldn't show you: he's the main source for the contents of the album, oh yes. Sucks that everything is in Observer-chan's perspective because I would've had fun with that.

Anyway, look forward to Bianchi kicking ass...? I guess?


	21. Chapter 20

**First words:  
**

* * *

_**HOLY FUCKING SHIT FINALLY I WAS ABLE TO UPLOAD AAAAAAAH-  
**_

Like, you have no idea on how much I was panicking when I found out about the error that I was getting in the Document Manager but I found a way around it, as much as I really didn't feel like using it. I was like, super scared and I was pretty much messing around with everything I could find to see if I could fix it but to no avail. The error's probably still there, even now! Whatever, I can finally upload. I just hope that it gets fixed soon.

In a totally unrelated note, I've got one more favorite and one more person following this! Yay yay! It's been long since I said something like this so I'm extra happy! 8D

**KeeLer MiMi - Lol This would be the perfect time to say "Ganbare!" but I'd rather speak english so do your best...? It sounds weirder, wow. Anyway, are you like, not allowed to read fanfiction or something or do you really have little free time to do it? You did mention that you were supposed to have no computer for four months so I assumed that the problem was only there but I guess not ^^' Damn, until Chapter 23? That's a lot! Wait, what chapter was that again...?**

** Um, 20 was the Holy Protection one while 14 was Ken's appearance, named "Animalistic sets of teeth" but I'm not sure if it was by then that Chikusa showed up or if it was on chapter 15... *Checks the chapter* Oh yeah, Chapter 15 _is_ the one named "In which my stupidity gets maxed out", the one where Chikusa appears and she feels compelled to treat the guy (I only had to check the name to remember it)! It makes me really happy to know that she'd continue reading, summer classes must really suck (I never had them)! Wait, it's Summer? It's still Spring for me though, how...? Anyway, thank you both for reading even though you're pretty busy yourselves! ^^**

Okay, I'm supposed to talk about the chapter here (Damned Error Type 2)... You know how the fight between Bianchi and M.M went: Bianchi used that ability thing to make M.M's clarinet into Poison Cooking but in here, M.M has no clarinet so I had to improvise. I'd say that you can literally do anything with Poison Cooking, it's super versatile. Because of that, writing this fight was way easier so thanks Bianchi, you did me a great favor!

"Arrangement of Deadly Varieties" = I'm referencing the One thousand Midas Touch-thing-a-majigs since I think that the original name (in the manga) was "Garden of Poisonous Varieties", that's why the name of this ability sounds extra weird.

**Aneki = it pretty much means Older Sister but I guess it's in this 'tougher' way, although it can also be used for a woman that you respect in this weird bro way that I can't really explain. Either way, it means Older Sister.**

**Fun facts:**

**\- Bianchi is always trying to come up with new variants of Poison Cooking; since she had recently discovered that ultimate ability of turning whatever she touched to Poison Cooking, she had been trying to come up with variants of that instead;**

**\- It was almost a miracle that Observer-chan never got to meet Bianchi: Haru was planning on talking about her, but she never got to do it while Observer-chan would pass through Tsuna's house many times and coincidentally never look at it so she'd never see Bianchi around. Although I say that, Bianchi would probably forget her if they were to meet by coincidence instead of a proper introduction, as good as Observer-chan is at coincidentally meeting people...**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 20: Poison Cooking**

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"If not what? Is that even an attack?" The girl retorted mockingly while pointing at the..._ food_ (Ugh), not really fazed by the threat._ I don't know but if you have comrades you should call them, I'm pretty sure you can't deal with everyone._ Since I wasn't one to help my enemies, I refrained from actually saying that out loud.

**. . .**

I sighed as I reminded myself of having helped the enemy like an idiot._ I sounded like such a hypocrite there..._ "If that's all you'll say then I don't need to hear anything from you!" Saying that, the woman (I'd also like to know her name...) charged, both plates in hand. _Is that supposed to be a close-range attack?! Wouldn't she dodge that?!_

I wasn't an expert on this so I decided to trust the judgment of the person that made those atrocities for the sake of shoving them on someone's face and see on how it'd go. "Fine, come at me! That lame attack won't even get me anyway!" As the girl had said, she ducked for the first atrocity-to-the-face and jumped back for the second with relative ease.

"Hmph, even without my weapon I can do just fine!" This didn't sound like bragging more than it sounded like the girl was trying to reassure herself of those thoughts as everyone just looked on, not daring to interfere._ You know, we could totally beat her if we were to fight her all at once..._

I really wanted to say that but everyone looked so damned serious that I felt nervous in trying to say anything at all. "There's more!" _There's more?!_ "Poison Cooking: Blazing Curry!" _That sounds way too scary to be considered food!_

The more ironic part was that the alleged curry (to give her credit, it at least somewhat like curry) wasn't really in flames although I'd bet anyone would rather eat it that way. "It's all the same thing if you can't hit me!"

_You've got a point there._ Bianchi didn't seem to be all that fazed with that good analysis of this problem and neither was everyone else. "So she's going for _that_ _move_, huh," I heard Reborn comment, making me confused. _What, will the thing actually be on fire or something?_

"That move?" Tsuna asked, looking as confused as I was for all the good reasons.

Reborn smirked (seriously, that's pretty weird to see on a baby) as Gokudera turned from serious to incredibly surprised. "You mean that move that Aneki's been working on?!" _Aneki? Are they related or does he also admire her?_

I went with the assumption that they were related (since only The Great Tenth is worthy of his respect) and dropped that train of thoughts altogether. "Yeah, that one. I guess we'll see it for the first time."

Whatever they were talking about, it didn't sound all that good to me. "Sounds like fun! I wouldn't think that she'd have something else up her sleeve!" Yamamoto remarked while laughing afterwards as I gave him an obvious blank stare that he would obviously not notice.

"Don't think I'm just here to dodge!" It looked like she had already avoided The Almighty Blazing Curry and was in the process of kicking the woman in the face. It would've landed if Poison Cooking (the name of the move thing, right?) hadn't been used to block it. "What?!"

With a panicked look on her face, the girl tried to get her foot off of the food (?) but it was stuck to her like glue. **"Aaaagh!"** It also seemed to be hurting her leg, presumably by burning it but I wasn't so sure about that.

"Poison Cooking: Acidic Jam!" _That sounds awful!_ And it looked awful too. _I guess the jam is on the bread? Well, if it's actually bread in the first place…_ Why was there a need to name the food anyway? I didn't really understand that. "I've got you now." The girl fell to the ground from having to stand on one leg, wincing in pain.

The woman then took two plates with completely different food (?) and brought them closer together. "Poison Binding!" Mashing the two together into one plate with one hand slightly touching the monstrosity, it suddenly started mixing itself together into a more disgusting mess of whatever was put in there.

_This is making me want to puke... What kind of powers does she have anyway, nuclear radiation?!_

"Poison Cooking: Arrangement of Deadly Varieties!" _At least _that's_ straightforward._ The girl shrieked but it was too late: that thing was thrown at her, causing her to pass out from the sheer powers of intoxication. _I do not want to be on the receiving end of that, that's for sure..._

I could only stand there and look at the traces of that crushing victory by some of the weirdest attacks I had ever seen in my life, thinking about this whole situation. "Hmph, attacks with no love would never reach me."

_I never thought I'd have- Huh, what did she just say?_ That statement alone broke my concentration on my thoughts and I did hear what she said clearly.

_This battle left a bad aftertaste in my mouth in more ways than one..._

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**Author's Notes:**

* * *

And so here it is? That fight was such an improv, you have no idea. Poison Cooking's a pretty creative skill though, you can make anything happen! Although I couldn't make it as clear in this chapter, Bianchi is way more love-focused than before and she was already pretty love-focused so I guess I just rose it some more.

I just couldn't take Poison Cooking out of Bianchi though, it's impossible; it pretty much defines her! Bianchi is pretty difficult to write, or so I found out. I mean, I know what she's supposed to be but I'm simply not that good with those kinds of characters. Well, Observer-chan is not particularly the type of character that I'm best with either.

Honestly, I'm better with cheerful people or people that joke around a lot...


	22. Chapter 21

**First words:**

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**KeeLer MiMi - Holy shizzle, really? Where I come from, Summer goes from June to September; I never knew that it would be different there! That's actually kind of cool although having Summer be from June to September makes Summer vacation be from June to September so it's also super cool here. I guess it's Summer for you and Spring for me ^^ That doesn't make sense, how could you be late for work from using the phone? After all, if it's portable you could go to work while using the phone, that's why it's convenient! Well, even though I say that, I only use my phone to listen to music. Wait wait wait, she's going to take your phone for 3 years?! Why? That's so strict, I feel so sorry for you! It's even worse that my mother has never done such things in my whole life so I can't even completely relate! I can only wish you good luck... Are Summer classes that easy? I would want Summer classes to be normal classes then, that would be cool.  
**

Damn, I'm extra late to upload today. Well, I had an essay to make so I couldn't do anything without getting it done. Either way, this chapter's... Meh, I guess. The ones after it are pretty meh as well but since I can only hope that you won't find them to be that way. Don't worry though, I'm almost over with the Kokuyo Arc! Seriously, the only thing left for me to write is Mukuro's fight and I think I can improvise a little in there since I know Mukuro better than say... _Lanchia. _Like, I can only hope that you stick around for the Varia Arc, I am so hyped to write it since I have the best idea for them. Besides, it's the Varia so they're automatically awesome! I'm still trying to find a way to introduce Fran earlier but it seems like it would require a lot of... "canonical freedom", or something of the sort.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Fuuta's ranking book was actually at a corner of the room where the HFW I was going on but no one ever noticed it. Right now, the ranking book is still at the corner, although whether Fuuta is concious again is still questionable;**

**\- Fuuta has yet to rank Observer-chan and the Kokuyo Gang because he had never met them; although it's obvious on why he never met Observer-chan, he never met the Kokuyo Gang because they were all in the Vindice prison which I'm pretty sure that Fuuta wouldn't have access to. Even though Fuuta didn't know them, he is talked about by a lot of people: there would be no way that Mukuro wouldn't have heard about him.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 21: Murderous kids for friends of acquaintances**

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"Anyway, did you happen to see a boy that's around nine years old wearing a scarf and holding a very big book?" Tsuna asked me in a worried tone, cutting to the chase. _After all, they did say something about people being kidnapped in this place..._

From what he had said, the only thing that came to mind was- _Oh you can't be freaking serious!_ "Well, I did see a boy matching your description, except he had a trident instead of a book and he um, tried to stab me with it." I glanced to the side as I assumed that the kid was probably someone that they knew well.

"A trident?!" Tsuna questioned hysterically, finding that as surprising as anyone would. "Why would someone like Fuuta have that?"

No one seemed to be so sure of what I was saying, as if I was making stuff up. _I wish I were doing something like that, I wouldn't like to almost get stabbed!_ "Hey, are you sure that's what you saw? Maybe the lighting was so bad that you couldn't see that well," Yamamoto asked, opting to not completely suspect me and trying to give a better explanation to what I just said. However...

_I'm pretty sure I could see the kid trying to stab me or I wouldn't have gotten through such a bad time in that place!_ "I'm sure of what I saw. It was definitely a boy wearing a scarf, with brown hair and eyes of the same color and wielding the head of a trident. Is that really who you're looking for?"

"That really is Fuuta..." Tsuna muttered, looking even more worried than before. "What would he be doing with something like that...?"

Seeing his Tenth (I still don't understand on why he calls him that) going deeper into worry and possibly sadness, Gokudera gave him a thumbs up with a smile on his face as I assumed that he was probably trying to cheer him up. "Don't worry Tenth, we can always ask when we find him since we will _definitely_ find him! There's no way we could ever fail!"

I had to admit that Gokudera wasn't that bad with that kind of thing and it was working on Tsuna so my initial impression of him became slightly more positive. _Now I just need to _not_ tell them about Bluebell knocking the poor kid out..._ I would've forgotten about that if not for this conversation.

_Well, it was the kid's fault in the first place! It's not like I wanted to get stabbed with a trident!_ "That's fine and all, but there's still something I have to ask you," Reborn stated, undoubtedly referring to me. "While there is a good reason for Fuuta to be targeted, there's none for you that I can think of. So why would Mukuro Rokudo bother with you?"

_This little guy's too perceptive for his own good!_ The fact that he was the one to ask the most logical question was actually kind of scary. "Um, I wasn't really kidnapped, I... followed Hibari-san to this place." _Speaking of that...!_

I got reminded of the fact that Hibari was fighting Mukuro and I was not sure of who was winning since I was no longer there. "You followed Hibari-san?!" Tsuna asked (rhetorically), knowing well on how scary that guy is. _I totally shouldn't have followed him though, he wasn't even the Leader to begin with!_

"Well yeah but Hibari's in a pretty bad situation right now!" Even though I had the intention of leaving this place, it would've been cruel of me to not tell them about this so they could help Hibari out as much as Hibari himself wouldn't want it (probably).

Everyone seemed as surprised as anyone would be when hearing that Hibari of all people was in a bad situation except for Reborn and the woman as they stayed somewhat neutral. "Hibari is?" Yamamoto was more surprised than anything when he let that out since that thought alone would be preposterous in a normal situation.

But in Namimori, there were never normal situations to begin with. _Well, this is Kokuyo but whatever..._ "Yeah, he's fighting Mukuro right now and I don't know if he's okay! He's on the top floor of the building I came from, just go from the hole you made on the wall!" I was not-so-subtly hinting at the fact that I wasn't accompanying them as I said that, hoping that I wouldn't be forced to stay here.

"So even Hibari-san had trouble with this person," Tsuna muttered, sounding nervous. It was almost as if he were before some sort of important match but what would be equal to that in this situation?

I didn't even want to think about that properly, knowing that I wouldn't come up with the best of hypothesis. "Whatever the case, his aim is still you, Tsuna." _Huh? But Mukuro had been expecting Hibari... What does Tsuna have to do with anything?_ In fact, why was he even here in the first place? These questions would probably get no answers. "So we should go and check on Hibari."

"Not so fast."

From our side, a somewhat tall man wearing a Kokuyo uniform with a hat big (and weird) enough to effectively hide his face was coming at us. "You're not going anywhere." All of what he said sounded very serious and threatening, yet in this strange dull way. I couldn't really understand why though, as I watched him in surprise and fear of having to stay here longer.

"There's more?!" Tsuna was as surprised and in fear as I was, although definitely more in fear than anything. The man was also wielding a huge dark metal ball that was attached to a huge chain, which he was gripping in his hand.

_I... do not want to get hit by that._ I didn't know whether that weapon actually had a name but it looked really scary so it didn't even matter. "I'll end this quickly." Saying that, the man took off his hat and for some reason, there were a lot of reactions to that, almost as if they recognized his face.

_**"Mukuro Rokudo?!"**_

_Huh, where?!_ I frantically looked around me only to see that they were actually referring to that man.

_Um, what- Who is this...?_

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

I must've been extra inspired today since I wrote two chapters! Now you finally see Lanchia and damn it, _he is hard to write!_ I'm not really sure on how exactly I'm supposed to write him like since I don't know him that well so I have to do all my homework and re-watch his fight over and over again.

Well, at least that's how I usually do it.


	23. Chapter 22

**First words:  
**

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I got another favourite and someone following me 8D

Anyway, this is also a late update but that's probably how it'll be from today on because I'll be much busier than I am now but I will still be able to update. The issue will be more on writing said chapters... I can just hope that I'll do it since I have these cool ideas for Mukuro's fight ^^' This chapter is kind of weird since things happen yet not much changes from cannon. I'm kind of disappointed with that, but this'll have to do.

Lanchia's attack names are based on the original attack names which were: Thousand Snake Fierce Domination, Violent Snake Fierce Domination and Flying Snake Fierce Domination.

**Fun facts:**

**\- The metal ball is actually a steel ball but Observer-chan did not know of this;**

**\- Lanchia's modified attack names were obviously by Mukuro: the reason for this was because that attack had the use of *ahem*... organizing the fangirl Swarm.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 22: Fangirl Domination**

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"But how? She just said that he was fighting Hibari!" Somehow, it looked like they were confusing Mukuro for someone else and I couldn't really understand why. Maybe they were given false information?

Either way, everyone was looking at me as if I were extremely- _really_ suspicious. "So you were lying after all! Tenth, this girl is just an enemy!" He was already taking out dynamite before I could even explain myself.

"Wait wait wait!" Before he could even light those, I shouted that out. "That guy over there is not Mukuro Rokudo so what the hell are you talking about? I'm pretty sure that this guy is not what the fangirls were raving about over there!" I pointed to the building that I came from, saying exactly what was on my mind.

Since that was for the sake of not getting blown up with dynamite, I didn't really regret saying all of that. "Fangirls?" They were looking at me in confusion which was justifiable as anything related to that was pure nonsense.

"Hmph, that's pathetic. The Reborn fanclub is obviously superior to everything else, right Reborn?" The woman said and at the last two words, she sounded slightly more... _fangirl-ish_ than before. _Wait what, Reborn fanclub?_

_He's a freaking baby, what the hell?!_ I did not want to know the thought process behind this woman. "So you're saying that this Mukuro Rokudo is an impostor?" Reborn asked, looking somewhat amused.

I was also thankful of that fact that he decided to ignore the woman so that weird conversations wouldn't last as long. "Who I am doesn't matter, you're dying here anyway." The man started swing that metal ball around with ease, as if it were really light in weight. "Who's first?"

That look that he was giving was pretty scary because it was so serious. _What's up with this guy anyway?_ "Don't worry Tenth, I'll go beat- Ugh...!" Suddenly, Gokudera was on his knees with a pained expression, almost passing out.

"Hayato!" The first one to react was the woman, rushing to his side right away. _So I guess they are actually related..._ Feeling his forehead, she muttered, "What a terrible fever...!"

_Fever? And he was going to fight?_ I looked at Gokudera in both worry and confusion. _Why...?_ "Gokudera-kun..." Tsuna was as worried about him as me if not more since they knew each other better. He didn't do anything but watch though, somewhat helpless.

"I'll go, Tsuna." The one that offered to get his ass kicked was Yamamoto, smiling weakly to see if he could brighten the mood for Tsuna (or so I assumed). "It would be unfair if I didn't get to do anything here, right?"

_Alone? Wait, why? Why do they want to fight alone? It would obviously be a better idea to fight the guy together!_ I would voice this question but it was already too late as Yamamoto was stepping forward, wielding a somewhat silver baseball bat. _Oh good, remind me of your wasted talent some more..._ "Your opponent is me!"

"Whoever it is, their tragic fate will be the same!" As he said that, he swung that huge metal ball and pulled it towards himself in a way that I didn't have the time to properly process. Pushing it with one hand (?), it went flying towards Yamamoto in a pretty slow speed. "Thousand Mukuro Fangirl Domination!"

_The Thousand what now?!_ I would laugh if not for the threat that the attack actually posed since that was the lamest attack name I had ever heard in my life. "What's that move?!" Tsuna asked incredulously as one would with such a name.

"It's slow...!" Yamamoto dodged it easily, taking a few steps to the side. Besides the ridiculous name, this made it seem way less scarier since it was so easily dodged.

... Or not, as in the blink of an eye I see Yamamoto taking the full force of the attack as if he hadn't moved a centimeter. **_"AAAGH!"_**

"Yamamoto!" Tsuna shouted out in worry, his eyes widened with the surprise of the attack actually landing in the first place.

Reborn looked on, his expression serious. "This is pretty bad, this guy's actually strong."

"But he had dodged it completely!" Aneki (That's it, I'm sick of referring to her as just 'the woman') was staring at him with a fierce look on her face as she exclaimed that, as if analyzing what exactly went wrong with this.

The metal ball was pulled back to its owner as Yamamoto was miraculously alive and able to stand up, although looking a bit more... beat up. "Phew, that was close. If I hadn't blocked it with this, I'd be dead meat." He held up his baseball bat, now broken from the attack.

_Thousand Mukuro Fangirl Domination? ... It doesn't sound so preposterous now._

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

I have to twist cannon but Lanchia-san (I treat him in a somewhat polite way now) is such a serious character with a serious backstory to him that's it's hard for me to do anything! I kind of feel bad for not letting Yamamoto fight Ken before since it was kind of cool then but you wouldn't see it anyway so it doesn't matter.

I also don't feel like making Yamamoto lose but Tsuna has to do something here or I'm just dragging the changes that I want to make! Poor Yamamoto... How are Mukuro and Hibari doing, you ask? I'd say that I want to keep that a secret for some more time.

Chapter 22 already! Damn, and I'm not out of the Kokuyo Arc yet? Well, we just have Lanchia-san's fight and Mukuro's fight and we're done so we're almost there? So look forward to that! ^^


	24. Chapter 23

**First Words:**

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**KeeLer MiMi - LOL But still, that's pretty rough for a punishment, damn. Even though I'm not so addicted to fanfiction, I think I now spend more than 50% of my time on than anything and it's kind of weird. Well, that's not to say that I don't read anything since that would be weird; I sometimes have days when I go looking for fics to read while on others I'm just stalking- I mean _observing _my story's status. Seriously though, I wish you good luck on that because that would be overkill if I were in your situation ^^'  
**

You know, this chapter is quite... Canon-ish. And you know, that really sucks. It especially sucks when I'm already writing ahead and then realize that I could've done this really good idea that I didn't even think of! If it's not obvious enough, it happened to me. Finally, light surged in my head and I got a hilarious idea for Gokudera but we all know that it's too damned late to do anything already! Well, I won't give up, I'll show it in some way or another, no matter what!

**Fun facts:**

**\- Reborn has more than one spare of the special baseball bats and keeps them all in Tsuna's room. Tsuna hasn't figured this out yet so let's keep quiet in the meantime because of how pityful that is...**

**\- Yamamoto's knowledge on his interests are probably more vast than Haru's knowledge on anything which would equal to Yamamoto knowing too much unnecesary trivia: he doesn't actually think that it's just trivia though so he doesn't even mention those details either.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 23: Tsuna dies**

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"We're going to have to discover the trick of that attack to do anything," Reborn deducted from the fact that Yamamoto's bat was freaking broken! How we'd get out of this situation was questionable to me, but Reborn didn't actually seem that worried.

It was definitely strange on how serious and calm he seemed, as if he had seen these kinds of things before... It was also strange that he was the smartest of the group which was totally ridiculous considering that he was a baby! "I'd like to do that but this bat's broken... Sorry for that, kid."

"Don't worry, I have a spare," Reborn said as he threw a baseball bat just like that one at him and Yamamoto caught it, grinning and giving him a thumbs up. _The enemy's right in front of you!_

Now that I thought of it, why did the guy give us such a break, he could've destroyed Yamamoto right there. _And why did Reborn conveniently have a baseball bat to give away?! It's like he had actually given the original bat to him in the first place!_

All of these thoughts were melting my brain which wasn't helping me as I was also worried for these people. I mean, who wouldn't be? They were not only ridiculous but they were going against someone who was just as ridiculous with a super strong attack.

"Knowing the secrets of this attack won't get you to win, throw away your hope!" The man exclaimed, looking as fiercely serious as he was before. His gaze was just kind of scary to look into and because of that I tried to look down at the ground.

_I already threw away my hope of leaving when you arrived, damn it!_ But no one seemed to be all that affected by his words.

... Well, except for Tsuna who was kind of scared. At least I knew that someone reacted properly in here. _Now that I think about it, no one is stopping me from leaving so why am I wasting my time here?_

But I couldn't back away from everyone. Not when they were in danger. I cursed my morally correct part for binding me to this risky situation but I just couldn't leave them alone, even if I was no help to begin with. "We'll just see about that!" Yamamoto retorted, still somewhat smiling.

"Resistance is pointless, it will only bring about a more tragic end! Thousand Mukuro Fangirl Domination!" _That name... really breaks the mood for me._ Doing the same thing as before, that ball was heading for Yamamoto who decided to use his baseball bat to... swing it at the dirt, making dust go up to the ball.

_Oh, because it probably involves air... Not bad._ With that we could see that the air around it had such intensity and power that it would swirl around the ball which was probably what would be stopping Yamamoto from dodging: the air current was just that strong. _That's pretty dangerous..._

Noticing that the metal ball was coming for him, Yamamoto let out an "Oh no!" as he ran to the side and purposely fell to the ground, finding no other way to dodge. "That was close..." This succeeded as he didn't end up magically hit by the ball as it was instead pulled back to its owner as it missed its target.

Standing up, he said, "I know about this. A baseball creates turbulence behind it as it travels through the air, although this is not on the same level as a baseball." _That's pretty factual coming from you._ The fact that he was talking about baseball was pissing me off, further reminding me of his wasted talent.

"The trick behind that attack is the snake patterns carved on that ball." _Huh?_ I looked closely at that metal ball and found that it did have some snake-like carvings onto it, not having noticed this before.

Reborn was also strangely observant, something that was also really weird for someone his age. Honestly, he might as well be older than everyone else since he actually has the brain of someone much older than Tsuna or me. "What do you mean?" The one asking this was Aneki (if you don't remember, I got sick of calling her 'that woman' so I resorted to this), which was slightly surprising considering that she was the oldest in the group.

"They redirect and twist the air currents around the ball, making their power so great that you can't even dodge," Reborn explained, making my assumptions correct as they now had a source which were the snake-like engravings on the ball. _Even with that explained, it would still be hard for Yamamoto to dodge..._

I had to admit that I was pretty worried for Yamamoto since despite its terrible name, that attack seemed pretty destructive and if it really hit him it would do more than just hurt a lot. "Even if you figure that out, it won't help you defeat me!"

The ball was thrown in the air and as it landed, the man used his two hands instead of one to push that ball and it went faster than before and with much more intensity. "Violent Mukuro Fangirl Domination!" _What the hell is up with that name?! It's worse than before!_ I found myself coughing and clearing my throat, not wanting to point out_ other meanings_ to that attack name.

Yamamoto, looking more focused than before, ran to the side but the ball turned to the side as well. "It can turn around-?!" That was the last thing Yamamoto said as he froze, the ball hitting him completely, this time with nothing to shield the hit. _**"AAAAAH!"**_

**"Yamamoto!"** Tsuna shouted out in terror with seeing Yamamoto get thrown to a tree from the power of the attack, unconscious on the ground and leaning on it. I could only stare with wide eyes, scared for his life. _He's... going to be okay, right?_ I'd laugh at such naive thoughts but they came from me, looking at this scene with my own eyes.

It was disheartening to watch and I wanted nothing more with it. _Wait, I still have that bag!_ I was going to run and treat him but I stopped, noticing that there was no pink bag with me. _That's right, I left it near that Chikusa guy... Damn it, just when it would be useful!_

"I told you that it was pointless." Looking through everyone with those serious eyes of his, he said, "Who's next?" I glared at him, as he seemed unaffected by this all. Well, it was hard to tell since he was completely serious; I'd call that 'a look of steel', unwavering and yet somewhat dull.

I just couldn't understand it and it scared me. It's as if steeling himself for something, but I just couldn't figure out what. Did I even want to know? The answer to that was uncertain. "Damn... you..." Gokudera was trying his best to stand up but failing miserably, looking like he was really sick.

_Why would he come then? Forcing himself to come... that's so reckless!_ "Your next opponent is me!" Aneki got in front of her, holding two plates of Poison Cooking. It looked more like she was trying to protect everyone, not really having a plan to deal with this person.

"I haven't even used 30 percent of my power yet, you have no chance against me. As I said, throw your hope away." Aneki's fierce stare turned into a glare as she faltered a bit. She probably knew that she wouldn't win and I was losing hope as well, genuinely worried for everyone.

But the man's words almost seemed like he was trying to make her give up fighting: was it to stop pointless fighting so he could finish her off right away? Maybe it didn't even have such cruel reasoning... "Bianchi..." Tsuna muttered in worry.

_Her name is Bianchi? That sounds pretty foreign too, like Reborn._ Even after having finally figured out her name, I didn't feel the least bit happy. "No, stop this already!" This was Tsuna's sudden outburst directed towards that man as if he were way weaker than he was and presumably after having understood that, he had a panicked look on his face.

Everyone was equally surprised with hearing that, especially coming from Tsuna and that only made me a little worried. After all, it might've been to protect Bianchi which was somewhat respectable of him. "Tsuna..." Bianchi glanced at him and she slightly lowered her plates of food.

However, Reborn was smirking. _Can he really smirk in this situation?_ "Good, Tsuna. To defeat this guy, you're going to have to give it your all though and as I said before, this is your last bullet." From his hat (or fedora, whatever) he took out some weird green thing with eyes and it transformed into a gun as he also took out a red bullet.

_Wait, what? How?!_ Showing it to Tsuna as he looked at Reborn in surprise, he loaded that in his gun and aimed at Tsuna. _He can't possibly be thinking of shooting Tsuna with that! And why does he have a gun anyway?! Better yet, how could that green thing turn into a gun in the first place?!_

**"Make it count!"**

"Huh, wait-" Before Tsuna could protest, he actually was shot with that red bullet right to his head, rendering him unable to mutter another word as he fell to the floor.

... I couldn't even gasp.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Oh no, Tsuna died- Yeah right, Observer-chan just doesn't know about the Dying Will Bullet. She didn't recognize Leon either because he wasn't a chameleon at the time. This followed the cannon a lot but it had to be done; deviating from cannon in this fight was too risky for me since I'm not so familiar with Lanchia-san.

I literally had to rewatch episode 23 over and over again, thinking about what I'd do! The next chapter's going to be better though, since I kind of have a plan for it. Well, planning is not for me but it's reassuring that I have plans in the first place. Seriously though, don't worry about the next chapter because it's going to be kind of different.

I'd say that Observer-chan's point-of-view really makes the story have a different atmosphere to it which makes this story easier to write, even when I'm following a lot of cannon and having to write a lot of its boring parts; Observer-chan's thoughts help me out a lot and that may be why I write them a lot.

Observer-chan is a character that thinks more than she acts while she doesn't even realize that she's both good-natured and reckless so it's kind of cool comparing her dialogue to her thoughts. I'd just say that if I wrote this story on someone else's point-of-view with Observer-chan still here, you wouldn't view her as the same person. I really like that so I intend to keep this perspective.

Damn, that was long. Look forward to Tsuna kicking some ass?


	25. Chapter 24

**First Words:**

* * *

**Edit: Holy shizzle, I fucked up so hard that it's not even funnny. While I was trying to correct a typo in Chapter 25, I confused documents and erased this chapter! Luckily, I have the chapters kept in a folder but the First Words section did not survive. Because of this, I'll have to put something else in here, even change whatever Fun facts I used to have, which saddens me greatly... _I'm so sorry! ;_;_  
**

Anyway, this Chapter's kind of badass, I guess. I mean, there's a fight in here that kind of changes because of the changes that I made to Tsuna; even so, this part of this story is a bit cannon. Since this comes from the me of the Future (the one writing Chapter 43 ^^'), I'd say that this chapter's not so bad. I bet I said something about you catching up to me since I'm late and stuff but now you just have to not be reading Chapter 24 while I'm editing it ^^ Sucks that I can't announce how many favorites or followers this story got now since I'm super forgetful of stuff...

Not all of Tsuna's dialogue is in **bold, **and I can only hope that such a thing is well conveyed. And yes, I unfortunately had to make up new fun facts because of what happened ;_;

**Fun facts:**

**\- There were plans to paint Mukuro's face on Lanchia's metal ball for better advertising: needless to say that Mukuro immediately changed his mind when he actually gave that some thought (don't tell anyone though, Mukuro will stab you with a trident! D:);**

**\- To add to the hilarity, the boxers that Tsuna was wearing were heart-patterned... and the hearts were pink.**

These Fun facts may not be as good as the previous ones but enjoy? ^^'

* * *

**Chapter 24: The real name of the attack**

* * *

Was I the only one that looked pale in seeing this scene in front of my eyes? It seemed like it, since no one had the same reaction from seeing Tsuna dying! I didn't understand why and it only made me in shock of the one behind it: how could Reborn, pretty much a baby, even think of shooting someone in the head?

... Well, that's until I saw Tsuna rise from the ground as his clothes were somehow ripped apart and with no traces of them ever existing, as Tsuna's forehead had fire on it.

You heard me, Tsuna's forehead had _fire_ on it! And did I tell you that he was in his freaking _underwear?!_ And the fact that he was **_dead_** before?! _What the hell is even happening?!_

_**"Reborn...!"**_ Tsuna said in a high volume with an ultra-serious expression as his gaze was suddenly very focused, precise and serious, the color of his eyes also being a bit more orange and it was kind of strange to look at.

Unlike the other guy's gaze of steel though, Tsuna's eyes held this calmer or more peaceful feeling to it, as if in control of any situation. **_"I will defeat Mukuro's impersonator with my Dying Will...!"_** His voice was also much deeper and serious while sounding truly determined to defeat that guy.

_That's good and all, but what just happened?! He resurrects and decides to kick that guy's ass? I don't get it!_ The man shifted his focus from Bianchi to Tsuna as he got further away from this area not because he seemed scared but probably to keep doing his attacks with that ball. "Whatever you just did won't work. Give up on pointless struggle!"

"I will defeat you with my Dying Will, no matter what." The fact that he was so serious really contrasted with the fact that he was only wearing his boxers because his clothes somehow disintegrated. If this were some sort of TV show I'd be laughing pretty hard but since this was a serious situation I couldn't even think of that.

It was also worth noting that Bianchi could've been teaming up with Tsuna so that they could defeat this guy once and for all but it didn't even cross these people's minds. "Violent Mukuro Fangirl Domination!"_ Argh, stop that already!_ Doing what he did before, Tsuna only ducked as if it were nothing and ran towards him so fast that only after blinking did I see him right in front of that man.

Being that close, Tsuna punched him right in the stomach with so much force that he was sent to the air. How a Middle School student was able to do that to a grown man was questionable and it made as much sense as resurrection after being shot in the head and disintegrating clothes but whatever, I've seen everything already!

In the air, the man pulled the ball back to him and did his attack from there. "Flying Mukuro Fangirl Domination!" What resulted from that was a much stronger air current with so much power that I could see it from this distance. This definitely didn't bode well for Tsuna, that was certain.

However, Tsuna didn't seem like he was scared at all. In fact, he wasn't even moving! Narrowing his eyes (more than they already were) as if to be extra focused, he stopped the ball with only his hands, leaving me to stare in awe. _Was Tsuna this... strong? Then why the hell didn't he fight before?_

"An attack like this is not enough to overcome my Dying Will. I'll defeat you...!" Locking eyes with that man, Tsuna grabbed the chain instead and pulled it to him. This action was so sudden and unexpected that the man didn't even react properly and Tsuna ended up taking his metal ball. "The name of your attack is wrong, I can feel your pain in saying it!"

_I can also feel my own pain in hearing it..._ "I can feel that it was fake, not even yours! An attack like that will never break through my Dying Will." The man's reaction to this was not even negative: his eyes were a mere dot from the shock, very different from his gaze of steel. "I'll show you the original attack and defeat you with my Dying Will!"

Throwing the ball up albeit struggling a bit more with it and when it was right in front of him, he pushed it with his two hands. "Violent Snake Fierce Domination!" The man took a step back yet not moving further as he seemed to be completely shocked. _Even if that was the case, why did he feel the need to change the name to something else? I don't understand._

Besides, how was Tsuna suddenly so cool? Even though I called him cool, it was still strange on how he figured out the name of the attack. Did he guess? It might've been easy to guess it since there were snakes and the attack was somewhat fierce so I could believe that... somewhat.

The attack actually hit the man and sent him flying to the dirt and at this point, questioning the logic of anything involving this was pointless. Besides, my brain would end up dying if I did and I value my brain a lot, why thank you. "He... Since when did he become so strong?" Bianchi asked the question that I wanted to ask except that she was directing it at Reborn.

Even though it was already proven that he was the smartest of the whole group, it still bothered me. After all, he was far too young to know this much or to even talk properly. Not only that, but most things are directed at him as if he had caused them in the first place and it almost looks like he had seen all of this weird stuff before.

It was just too impossible and suspicious at the same time so it was hard to get it off of my mind. "He's grown a lot from everything that's happened to him. He still needs to improve though," Reborn answered while still smirking. It just bothered me! It was as if the fact that he was apparently Tsuna's home tutor was actually true but that was just strange!

I hadn't noticed it before but Gokudera was unconscious, making me look away from him and at what was happening with Tsuna and Mukuro's impersonator (since I'm sick of calling him 'that man'). From the rocks that fell on him and the throwing that ball away as if it were nothing, Mukuro's impersonator rose.

He actually didn't seem as hurt as he should've been when getting knocked out by a big metal ball and he was glaring at Tsuna which was pretty scary to look at. It still didn't beat the Representative's glare though and I was kind of glad for that. "Playing with that ball was just to pass time, finding out the true name of its attack means nothing to me." Somehow, it felt like he was lying but I couldn't really find out anything more than that.

"My real specialty is..." Faster than anything I had seen, he was already behind Tsuna and said boy in boxers only had the time to glance at Mukuro's impersonator before he had been kicked, sent flying and get his face grabbed so it could be forcefully pushed to the floor. **"...Martial arts!"**

It was not only hard to watch but Tsuna's groans of pain were making it worse for me; I really wanted to leave. But leaving would just be wrong on so many levels. What could I do in this situation? Absolutely nothing.

For now, I could only watch helplessly as Tsuna was on the ground, worrying me yet again...

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

_**AAAAAH I WANTED TO WRITE LANCHIA-SAN'S THOUGHTS SO HAAARD!**_

Even though I preached about Observer-chan's perspective being cool to write, this is one of those chapters that would heavily benefit from a third person view as it would not only expand on Lanchia-san but it would also make you know more things since Observer-chan is not a completely reliable narrator.

What's worse is that I'm still not really deviating from cannon because doing that would almost be heartless of me, it's already breaking me apart to skip some stuff and that original name thing because Lanchia is the kind of character that you have to feel sorry for. Since that's how he is in this arc at least, I can't make too many jokes on the guy: he has to be taken seriously.

Because of that, I kind of went with cannon because it's the best route to take with this character but I'm always afraid to screw it up or make it too boring to read. I just hope that it's not the case and that you'll enjoy it anyway since it makes me feel sorry for the supposed ridiculous mood that this story should have.

I do have to admit that my most original plans (meaning the ones that deviate from cannon the most) are in the Future Arc but that's to be expected since Byakuran is God here! Well, I'd say that the next chapter will kind of be along the lines of the end of Lanchia's fight and after that it might not be that cannon-heavy.

Damn, this might be the reason why I didn't want to make this in Tsuna's perspective: it would be too cannon-heavy. Now I'm kind of glad for Observer-chan...


	26. Chapter 25

**First words:  
**

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Holy shizzle, this chapter is too big for its quality, wtf have I just done? And I haven't even talked that much about what I've done to Tsuna but I figured that it was obvious: Hyper Dying Will Mode got replaced with the Dying Will Mode and vice-versa. I'd say that it's good for me since it would kind of take away a more serious mood when he gets the Hyper Dying Will Mode and that's kind of what I want: I want this story to not be that serious. Anyway, if I write any more this'll have too many words!

**Fun facts:**

**\- One of the things that Lanchia _really_ wanted to do while being possessed by Mukuro was to burn all fangirl albums of the club; sadly, this never got accomplished. Not to worry though as Lanchia was not the only one in the Kokuyo Gang that wanted that to happen...**

**\- Lanchia was also a main part of the 'conversion process': that term pretty much means getting girls in the fanclub. No, it is not a used term at all so you have no need to remember it. Anyway, it was a pretty bad process: showing Mukuro propaganda to Middle School girls was not something that the Kokuyo Gang wanted to be doing for Mukuro (I mean, why would he ever do that himself?).**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 25: Tsuna dies again**

* * *

Tsuna was trying to stand up, but it was too late. The metal ball that he was apparently 'just playing with' at the time was now being used to crush Tsuna as it dropped down from the air and felt right on its target. "Tsuna!" Bianchi actually exclaimed his name but I didn't say a word.

I only gasped as I could even make a sound and tripped while stepping back, falling to the ground yet unfazed by that. _He..._ Reborn didn't say anything either, but he wasn't smirking anymore. _I think..._

_I think that I was probably better off not doing what Byakuran told me to do..._ Honestly, I was about to cry. If this is what His Divine Presence wanted me to see then I wouldn't call him God by any means._ If this was planned from the beginning then he's probably _the Devil_ instead._

"With this, your hope has been destroyed. Who's next?" He looked at Bianchi and then at me, knowing that either one of us would be next. After all, Tsuna was gone, Gokudera was sick and he was unconscious right now, Yamamoto was defeated and no one was expecting a baby to fight so there were only us left.

I was way too scared to go but I didn't want Bianchi to go either since I would only feel bad. I stood up albeit with some difficulty and blinked a few times from being teary-eyed, staring straight at Mukuro's impersonator. I knew that Bianchi wouldn't do well even with her cooking and as shocked as I was, I had the ultimate advantage:

Somehow, God (as Unholy as He was) was on my side. _**"I-!"**_ "I'm not done..." Cutting my sentence was Tsuna's voice coming from underneath that metal ball. Struggling to get it off of him yet succeeding to do so, Tsuna still looked determined, serious yet somewhat calm although severely beaten up. "Those weak attacks are not enough to break through my Dying Will..."

_Says the one that should be dead already! This is the second **fucking** time that I got tricked, I will seriously kill him myself if this continues._ Needless to say that I was _extremely_ (An 'extreme' that I won't even take back) pissed off at him for all of this. "Weak?"

"With such a weak resolve, my Dying Will will never wither...!" How Tsuna could even stand was questionable but asking any questions by this point would just make too angry to even do it properly!

Meanwhile, Mukuro's impersonator wasn't taking those words lightly. "Don't talk like you know anything about me! Weak resolve?! Defeating my enemies and sending them to the deepest pits of Hell; that is my true resolve-" "That's a lie."

"You...!" Tsuna's piercing gaze was really hard to counter, I noted. At least Mukuro's impersonator was having issues with that.

I'd probably blame that on Tsuna's blunt words though since somehow they were actually hitting a nerve. "You are a good person; that is your true self."

"Shut up!" Tsuna easily dodged the punch aimed at him even though he had just survived getting crushed by a metal ball and retaliated by elbowing him on the stomach. "Ugh-!"

Mukuro's impersonator got to his knees from that, but he got up immediately. "You're... wrong. My only purpose... is to kill!"

"... No, _you_ are wrong." Successfully guarding the second punch that was coming for him, Tsuna got around Mukuro's impersonator and kicked him in the back, making him fall to the floor.

How Tsuna still had that much strength (and how he got it in the first place) was still questionable but I had a feeling that this would never get an answer. "When you were attacking, you closed your eyes. It was as if you didn't want to see your opponent die in front of you."

_Aren't you over-analyzing this? He could've been concentrating._ Now that he mentioned it, I did see him closing his eyes every time he was going to attack. Groaning, Mukuro's impersonator tried to stand up but ended up kneeling instead although that didn't stop him from trying to hit Tsuna yet again, his movements way slower than before.

It wasn't like he was that injured, it just seemed like Tsuna was emotionally affecting him that much. "You used the steel ball instead of your fists," _Oh, it was made of steel? Oops...?_ "That shows that you feel guilt and that you hesitate." Tsuna had already dodged the blow and from the word 'hesitate', Mukuro's impersonator somewhat froze.

Well, that wasn't really it but you could say that he had finally stopped. He was still shocked though and that only made it somewhat strange to watch. I did notice something odd about Mukuro's impersonator, his gaze of steel... _I guess I might've been the one jumping to conclusions but who would blame me?_

After all, being wrong about someone's death is pretty rare which translates to almost non-existent. "I thought it was weird at first." Tsuna's... flame that was on his forehead started going out and his cold yet calm gaze was 'turned to normal', although he was still without clothes (beyond his boxers). "I didn't feel like you were scary at all."

_I don't know about you but I'd feel scared at the person that almost killed me,_ I thought while taking only a step forward, afraid to do anything further. What if Mukuro's impersonator took out a weapon or something? I wasn't going to risk anything yet, whether God was on my side or not.

_God is kind of unreliable anyway._ "There's someone named Lambo living in my house; you're just like him." _Whoever that is, I **do not** want to meet him._ "He does all of these unreasonable things but you just can't dislike him." _Yup, I **do not** want to meet him._

Tsuna was strangely forgiving of things, I noted. That smile of his indicated just that too, it was... warm. _That sounded way too weird._ Even though I thought that, it was the truth no matter how weird it sounded. "As I said before, you're a good person; I know you are."

Tsuna nodded in reassurance as Mukuro's impersonator seemed to be even more shocked than what he was before. How that could be done was questionable but at least it wasn't downright impossible.

After a bit of silence, I could see that Mukuro's impersonator was smiling. The scene was pretty moving but the things that I've seen are still on my mind. He'd need a very good reason to be doing all of this because I wasn't as forgiving as Tsuna. "... I've completely lost. No wonder Mukuro is so worried about you."

"So she wasn't lying about you being an impostor..." Reborn remarked as I glared for a split second. _Why would I ever lie?!_ Whatever, it now seemed that it was safe to move forward so like everyone else next to me, I did just that.

_But wait, Mukuro is worried...? First, Reborn says something about Tsuna being Mukuro's aim and now this guy's saying that Mukuro was worried as if Mukuro really was targeting Tsuna. Wasn't someone kidnapped or something? This isn't making any sense! How is Tsuna related to anything?!_

My mind was a chaos, trying to tie all events together and failing miserably. There was something missing but for now, I had no idea as to what that would be. Everyone (except Gokudera and Yamamoto who weren't conscious) was now moderately close to Tsuna and Mukuro's impersonator as they were probably going to ask things out of him.

"I'm not exactly an impostor; I'm a double. The real Mukuro would never show himself like that." Somehow, I found that questionable since Haru knew his name and he had transferred to Kokuyo Middle School. No one would ever do such a thing if they didn't want to show themselves like that.

If I didn't want people to know of my identity at all, I wouldn't even show my face; Mukuro however, he showed himself to Hibari and me as if there was no danger in doing so. Whether he was doing it on purpose, not being very smart or underestimating us, I didn't know, but this was definitely something to think about.

... Except that my brain is already too busy with all this nonsensical information! "Mukuro Rokudo... the man that took everything from me and put me as the vice-leader of his fanclub..." _Vice-leader...? You might as well call it Student Council! What's next, fanclub secretaries?_ I could understand the pain in being appointed as something like that now that I have seen fanclubs for myself: no wonder he was in that condition!

"Tell us what happened," Reborn said, getting to the point right away. I was still getting used to Reborn's sole existence and the fact that he was not normal and the fact that he was so blunt was also something that I had to take note of.

Still in the same position, Mukuro's impersonator started speaking, "Five years ago, I was a member of a mafia family in Northern Italy." _Uh, what? And wait, you're admitting it?!_ "I had no family so they took me in and took care of me; they were my life." I had to admit that I was a bit conflicted: I didn't know whether I should be sad, confused, both or angry.

After all, this guy was talking about the mafia and anyone would know about the things that the mafia does... On the other hand, it was somewhat kind of them to take him in. What was stranger than anything though was the fact that no one was reacting to this, almost as if it were expected; that was somewhat unsettling. "To repay them, I became a bodyguard and later, I was considered the strongest man in Northern Italy."

_Yeah, so strong that you lose to _this boy in his underwear_ right next to me._ "One day, the Boss took in another boy without a family. He apparently liked his eyes that were filled with ambition." _Ambition is not a positive trait!_ In my opinion it wasn't but others would think differently. I'd say that wanting too much always leads to your downfall and ambition usually makes you want more than you can get.

"I was the one to take care of that kid, and I took care of him just like the family took care of me."_ Then why the hell did he turn out to be like that, I wonder?_ "Some time later, when I returned to our Headquarters, everyone had been killed. There were no survivors..."

I looked down at the ground in a pathetic attempt to avoid thinking about what he just said. "That's a well-known incident. Even now, no one knows the culprit." _That's... terrible..._ Thinking about it made me stomach hurt, as strange as that sounded.

"...I did it."

I flinched. _Did I just... hear that correctly...?_ "I killed them all, with these hands...!"

_And Tsuna thinks that this is a good person?!_ "I would often black out and before I realized it I would be standing near a corpse that I had never seen before." _He's... mentally ill?_

For now, I really had no explanation to anything. "But that makes no sense, you don't even remember doing it!" _Oh don't you **dare** say anything about what makes sense or not!_

"I was being controlled... controlled by that kid... By _Mukuro Rokudo...!_"

Speaking of things that make sense, this definitely didn't make much sense. Even so, I decided to pretend that such a thing could be done and think for a while.

It didn't take me that long to reach a conclusion, as surprising as that was. _That boy that was trying to stab me... He was wielding a trident that looked a lot like Mukuro's. Not only that but he also seemed somewhat emotionless... Could it be that Mukuro was also controlling that kid?_ It didn't seem so impossible to me if I thought about it in that way.

Well, the fact that people can be controlled like that was still somewhat unbelievable but I could manage. "Soon my soul, body and even my admiration to anything but Mukuro were taken away as I became the fake Mukuro Rokudo..." _Oh damn, so you were turned into a fangirl? That does not sound pleasant._

"... And so you fell into despair and turned into a monster that only lives to kill," Bianchi added, not losing her cool. That was somewhat admirable considering that I was kind of horrified in a lot of ways.

Thankfully, I was seemingly not the only one to feel that way. "Mukuro Rokudo..." _People really like saying his damned name!_ "How could he...? That's not something that a human being should do!" Tsuna exclaimed the words that I would want to say as I couldn't even do it.

"Let's take him out, Tenth." I snap my head to the side only to see Gokudera standing again, as if nothing had even happened to him. _How the hell are you even alright?! You should even be standing!_

Somehow, his words were kind of encouraging. As for me though, I just wanted to leave. Speaking of that, I should've done that by now. I took a few steps back until I saw Mukuro's impersonator standing up and walking towards Tsuna. "You might be able to defeat him, Vongola."

_Vongola? He's calling him Vongola? How many nicknames does Tsuna have?!_ Too many to count, I noted. "Listen, to defeat Mukuro Rokudo you must-" He didn't even finish that sentence as he suddenly pushed Tsuna to the ground. **"Move!"**

Before I could even process it, there were needles to both his arm and chest as he was also falling to the ground. "Are you alright?!" Tsuna shouted out as he got to his side.

Me on the other hand, I was still at the same distance, frozen from the sudden surprise. "... This was a pityful life," Mukuro's impersonator muttered as though he was going to die. 'Wait, now people can die? Tsuna was freaking crushed by a steel ball and survived but you die because of some needles?!'

I didn't even know anymore. "Please don't say that!" Seemingly agitated, Tsuna exclaimed, "A name! You have a real name, right?! Tell us your name!"

_His name? What good will that do, get him to the freaking hospital or something!_ Now that I thought about this, no cars passed through the road near Kokuyo Center at least from what I've seen.

"I'm... Lanchia..."

That name sounded foreign and I wasn't even surprised considering his backstory. _It sounds pretty cool actually..._ That thought was something rare coming from me, making me a bit more emotional. "Hang in there, Lanchia-san!"

"Hearing that name reminds me... of my family." The fact that he said it also reminded me of my own family and the fact that my mother was totally going to kill me. Did it matter now? Not really, but I knew that I'd face that later. "Now I can family go back... to... them..."

Lanchia slowly closed his eyes and I could also see tears in them. "Lanchia-san?! Lanchia-san!"

... Kind of like mine. "Using people as he pleases and throws them away when they become worthless..." Gokudera muttered angrily as he looked at Lanchia's corpse.

"That Mukuro Rokudo, what does he think that people are?!" Bianchi was actually louder than Gokudera, something that I didn't really predict.

I didn't really care about that though, since I was in a pretty bad emotional state right now. I'd say that I was really naive for coming here and not expecting these kinds of things... Crying didn't help me at all!

I wiped my tears with my hands, trying to be calm. _Yeah, crying won't help me at all!_ I tried to cheer myself up and it was kind of working... kind of. "Oh, he isn't dead. He's like that because of the poison in the needles. If we get the antidote on time though, he'll recover," Reborn stated somewhat neutrally.

Meanwhile, I froze. I did not move a single part of my body and I was not up for tears anymore. No, I was much angrier than that. After all, shedding tears for nothing is pretty bad, right?

_Damn it all, I got tricked yet **again!** I will seriously **kill something** if this goes on, getting tricked into thinking that someone is dead is **not cool!**_

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

**Finally, I'm done!** Oh damn, this took so long to write! Seriously, I almost thought that I was gonna get Writer's Block from this chapter, you have no idea!

... By the way, did you like episode 23 of KHR? I hope so because this chapter is _copypast-errific_ and that pun was horrendous! I am disappointed in myself for this chapter and I do hope that you don't kill me for it. Please forgive me!

To my defense, I didn't want to make fun of Lanchia-san's suffering and that's why I didn't change much: as I said before, Lanchia-san's the kind of guy that you have to take pity on. That's just how it works!

Don't worry though, I have made an omake to reward you for your awesomeness in being able to read this chapter! I hope you'll enjoy it! ^^


	27. Chapter 25,5

**First words:  
**

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**WARNING: This is the omake Chapter and Chapter 25's the one before this one. I'm saying this just in case you happen to skip past it and if you didn't, disregard this completely.**

I couldn't just go on without warning you since the last time that happened was kind of strange for me.

This is an actually short omake, yay yay! Well, I could've made this longer but I didn't feel like it would make that much of a difference since I did try to write longer than this. Whatever, I can only hope that you'll enjoy this as I made it thinking of how awfully long the last chapter must've been ^^'

**Fun facts:**

**\- The one to tell that lie to Haru was actually Gokudera but Tsuna didn't even have the time to protest so it was left there as truth; in Haru's eyes, Tsuna is now a professional archer;**

**\- Haru could've called Tsuna instead of Observer-chan but she didn't want to bother Tsuna while he was in the competition since it might've been his turn while she was calling him. Instead, Observer-chan was the one to end up bothered ^^**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 25.5: Omake 2**

* * *

Suddenly, my phone started ringing. As anticlimactic as that was, I figured that I was better off picking up the call. "Hello?"

"It's Haru!"

... Or not. _Damn, why now of all times?_ "What is it, Haru?" I didn't really make an effort to have any sort of interesting conversation with her and it showed. In my defense, she shouldn't be calling me at this hour, I was probably supposed to have classes.

"So you _are_ cutting classes to go off to Kokuyo." _So you called to know that?!_ "Don't worry, I promise that I won't tell anyone except for Kyoko-chan!" _Oh great, make her worry some more..._ It wasn't good to know that this call was completely useless, especially when it had such awful timing.

Either way, it would be rude of me to hang up on her so I decided to listen to what she had to say. "Anyway, I called so you could to tell Tsuna-san that even though I couldn't go to the Archery competition, I will always be cheering for him with all my love!"

"... What?" _What kind of lie did Tsuna tell her?!_

I never thought that Tsuna would do something like that but with the previous events, I figured that Tsuna was not exactly what I thought that he was. "Huh? Aren't you with him? I figured that you would be since he said that he'd have to pass through Kokuyo to get there... Unfortunately, I could not go with them..."

The fact that she was so sad about it was really destroying the serious mood of all this. "Um, I'm with them but-"

"I'm so glad that I was right! I almost thought that I was troubling you!" _But you _are_ troubling me..._ "Then you can tell him, right? Thank you!"

And so, she hung up on me. _At least she's happy...?_

_... Yeah right, as if that would make me feel better._

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

I had many ideas but this one was the least Fourth-Wall-Breaking idea of them all so I picked it. Really, I had plans for Byakuran to go out of his way to show Lanchia's mind so she could see embarrassing memories but damn, **Byakuran and Observer-chan could be talking to each other for days on end!**

Seriously, I was probably going to write more words of Byakuran and Observer-chan talking to each other than the great amount of words in the previous chapter! The worst is that it was only supposed to be Observer-chan reacting to stuff about Lanchia-san, it had nothing to do with Byakuran.

Because of that, I came to the conclusion that Divine Help... would not help me at all and instead I came up with this. It kind of works, I guess but I think I wanted something crazier to write.

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter...? I hope you haven't dropped this story by then...


	28. Chapter 26

**First words:**

* * *

This chapter is so short and the fact that Mukuro's fight is pretty much on Chapter 29 or 30 is not that reassuring to both you and me. I guess it's kind of like all the chapters about stalking Hibari so have fun with that. You know what sucks? You're really catching up to me since you're 2 chapters behind me! Whatever, I can do it. Besides, since I've been updating so late I've been getting less people reading this which I don't really blame anyone for since it's kind of late for me too so maybe writing chapters at my own pace won't really make any difference.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Some arguments against Observer-chan _might've been_ lies. After all, Reborn was pretty confident about Tsuna kicking Mukuro's ass;**

**\- To add to what was above, Observer-chan was still somewhat suspicious to them: not anyone would just come with Hibari to Kokuyo and Mukuro and survive through it all with nothing but a scratch on her arm. Well, that is because they don't know anything about Bluebell, something that Observer-chan _is not_ willing to tell them about. Besides, Observer-chan was really nothing but a very unfortunate girl anyway...**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 26: Getting persuaded to doom**

* * *

With all that happened in this place, I was pretty much ready to leave. I didn't even care, I was already walking away; after all, how many people would Mukuro have to go around the place to kill intruders?

"Where are you going?" Reborn seemed to be directing that question at me as I stopped walking and resisted the temptation to flinch. _Why do you want to know anyway?_

Turning to him, I simply said, "I'm going home." Why would I need to explain more than that? Going home was perfectly justifiable in this situation.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." _What, is he trying to scare me or something?_ I doubted that since keeping me here wouldn't really help anyone. "You know about Mukuro, don't you? He might want to keep your mouth shut too like him over there." He pointed at Lanchia's body, still lying on the ground, unconscious.

Looking at it only reminded me of bad things so I turned away immediately. _Well, maybe that's right but..._ "Wouldn't it be just as dangerous if I followed you around? If he seriously wanted to do that he would've killed me already."

"She's right, Reborn! This is too dangerous for her, she should go home!" It looked like Tsuna was either worrying about me or he just didn't want me to see more than what I had already seen from him but I wasn't particularly bothered with that; he was supporting my argument!

Unfortunately, this didn't seem to work out for me. "You're saying that as if she was his priority. If he seriously wanted to kill her, she wouldn't even be standing here." Well, seeing that Mukuro was able to make illusions and could hold out against an angel from Heaven, his strength was undoubted. "If you don't remember, Mukuro Rokudo's after you, Tsuna."

_But why? I still don't get it._ Whatever it was, it would make sense that he might've not been fighting seriously. After all, that might have been the reason why he didn't just kill Hibari right there; instead, he got Hibari's weakness so that he wouldn't have to actually fight him. In a way, he was actually trying to not overexert himself and going after me did have its limits.

"So when Tsuna stops being his priority, he might go after me (or make someone else go after me)? Is that what you mean?" I asked even though I didn't need any confirmation from Reborn. Besides, it was already weird that I was talking to Reborn as if he were the smartest person in the group.

As I thought about it, he really might've been the smartest person in the group... "If Tsuna can't stop him then yeah, you could be in a bad situation." _So Tsuna is going to stop him... Would he be strong enough?_ "Besides, you know a lot about Mukuro and that will be useful for us." _Stop assuming that I know about Mukuro when I really don't!_

_Wait, now that I think about it, I saw him fight; I _know_ what his abilities are!_ Either way, going with Tsuna would still be dangerous. On the other hand, if I didn't go with them, they might've been the ones in danger: I actually knew a lot about Mukuro without realizing it.

Couldn't I just tell them all about Mukuro and then go away? As I thought about this, I figured that Reborn still had a point and if I went home, I wouldn't be sure if Mukuro would win or not.

... Besides, I couldn't just go away knowing that they might be in danger, I wasn't that cruel. "Fine, I'll go. I guess you'd need my help to get to where Mukuro is," I said reluctantly, my instincts still strongly telling me to go home already.

_W-well, even God Himself wants me to be here so I couldn't possibly suffer some more- I can't even pretend, this is obviously dangerous in every way possible..._

* * *

**Author Notes:  
**

* * *

Oh damn, not only do I pretty much write cannon in the last chapter, make an omake that's not funny enough to be a reward for sitting through said chapter but I also write a chapter all about persuading dear Observer-chan to watch Mukuro and Tsuna's fight!

I'm on a roll today!

Anyway, there would probably be more outcomes to this but telling you the outcomes to this would actually be a spoiler as big as why Byakuran is going through the trouble of protecting a seemingly useless, unlucky and normal girl. Yes, I actually am pretty much finished brainstorming for that!

You know, you'd think that I was going to make her super neutral but I think that she's more good natured than she thinks she is. While Observer-chan as a character is pretty much there to fulfill her namesake and commenting on what she sees, I really want her to have a personality and not be some blank slate.

After all, I don't think it would be fun to be reading the thoughts of someone that lacks personality, right? I sure hope that she isn't boring or I'll shoot myself in the head...


	29. Chapter 27

**First words:**

* * *

Damn, this chapter has a much words as the second omake, first words included! Well, this section really does make the word count bigger and it might confuse people when looking at my profile, in which I'm ahead of you yet the word count is smaller. Now you know, it's all because of this part of the chapters since I write it while editing the document ^^'

I don't really regret writing this chapter as much as I should though, since I had this situation playing in my mind ever since the start of the Kokuyo Arc. Like, it was a joke that I desperately wanted to write so I can't help but kind of liking this chapter. I can only hope that you like this chapter too or I'll shoot myself yet again because it almost feels pointless. Well, most chapters kind of feel pointless like chapter 16 for example...

**Fun facts:**

**\- If Bluebell had known of the emergency stairs, she would've definitely not have gotten Observer-chan down like she did before. To add some salt to that wound, Byakuran made Bluebell watch this part of the Kokuyo Arc: let's just say that Bluebell's mood was not the same as when Byakuran called out to her (Which was pretty much this - :D). One thing to note is that even though Byakuran did that, Bluebell was not aware of his intentions so she did not feel any anger towards him; after all, he just told her to come over at the exact time that it was happening (^^ - Byakuran's expression after laughing at Bluebell, although in a more teasing way than laugh out loud);**

**\- The fact that Observer-chan never thought about another way to go to the second floor was really Hibari's fault, as he did not care to find any other to go beyond flying. Because of that, Observer-chan never bothered to think about it either... that is what she thinks but wouldn't it be her fault that she didn't fully think for herself? That was something that Observer-chan would never consider, and a small grudge against Hibari will be kept due to that.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 27: My stupidity is shameful**

* * *

We headed through the hole on the wall created by the apparent 'last fight' (or so I was told) that took place, ignoring the old man knocked out assuming that it was the opponent that they had to beat. How that would actually make for a hard fight was beyond me but I didn't care as it was already taken care of.

I was guiding them reluctantly, hoping to not fail at it. After all, I was seemingly not the best at remembering these kinds of things. "Now that I think about it, I wonder if Hibari-san's okay..." Tsuna muttered, reminding me of the fact that they were supposed to be fighting.

Even though I thought something like that, it was unlikely that they'd still be fighting by now, seeing that we took so much time with Lanchia. "Knowing that guy, he's probably just fine," Gokudera said in disdain, possibly by the thought of Hibari himself. Considering that he was the one that bit us to death, I wasn't that surprised.

"Hibari's pretty strong but this is Mukuro Rokudo we're talking about here; it could go either way," Reborn mentioned almost as if to make our mood worse even though his words were the truth: Hibari could lose against Mukuro. It was probably part of his straightforward nature to say things like that, but it did make me more uneasy; I could also notice that it did the same to Tsuna.

As we turned a corner, we found ourselves at probably one of my most hated spots ever: the part of this building with the broken stairs. "And this is where we'd go up but... As you can see, there are no stairs," I stated nervously knowing of how inconvenient and unbelievable that it was.

"The enemy probably got rid of them themselves so that no one could get in that easily," Bianchi remarked as she made a good point: taking out the stairs would really make it harder for anyone to go up. It was definitely harder for me to get up, having to be pulled up by a super hero and dropped down by an angel that was shorter than me in height!

Could any of these people fly? I doubted it. "But wouldn't that make it hard for them to get up there too?" Tsuna asked and that was also a good point. After all, could Mukuro even fly? _He did have fangirls, maybe that's how you get them?_ That joke did not make me feel better nor was it funny for me.

"Well..." I started meekly, "Maybe they can fly...?" Since that suggestion in itself sounded too preposterous to be true, it was hard to say it in the first place. _Hibari can fly so it's still a possibility!_ I thought to myself in a terrible attempt to make me feel better, only making me slightly more nervous instead.

Besides, I had already crossed out the possibility of Chikusa being able to fly since he was too injured for that. Could someone really fly while injured? I wasn't too knowledgeable on these kinds of supposedly impossible things. "There would be no way that the ones working for Mukuro could do that; there's probably another way if we look around," Reborn explained as he suggested that there were other means of going to the second floor other than those stairs.

**. . .**

I hung my head low in shame for my stupidity, having not realized that there could be other means of going through the second floor other than those stairs.

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

Another short chapter of nothing special happening, yay yay! Either way, there weren't much of Observer-chan's thoughts in this chapter which kind of surprised me since I have the habit of putting them everywhere and anywhere: it's almost like all the dialogue that she wouldn't dare saying. Observer-chan's really that kind of person, the one that has thoughts different from her dialogue.

Anyway, I'd say that I'm really just getting started since I do know what to do with Mukuro's fight with Tsuna and I have these guidelines for it: I can do anything with it as long as Tsuna gets the gloves and the Hyper Intuition (Hyper Dying Will Mode, whatever). Because of this, I'm kind of hyped since I'm getting a few ideas and Mukuro's a character that I can pull these kinds of risks with since he's a more defined character.

Look forward to the fight with Mukuro and Tsuna?


	30. Chapter 28

**First words:**

* * *

This story has two more followers, yay! 8D I had actually only seen one but right as I had finished editing this, I got that other follower so this was a last-minute edit because I was so happy that I didn't want to say it in the next chapter; I'd have to wait a day to say it!

It might not look like it, but I do explode on the inside whenever this story gets favourites and followers, you have no idea. Reviews too, especially reviews. Anyway, about the actual chapter, it's... really just setting up for the next chapter. Well, the next chapter is also setting up for the chapter after that and the chapter after the chapter after that will probably be the start of Mukuro's fight. With that in mind, I will probably finish the Kokuyo Arc at Chapter 45-50.

... Yes, that is terribly long. And then after the Kokuyo Arc, we'll go into Daily Life (I guess) some more and only after that do we actually get to the Varia Arc, the hypest Arc of them all. I've been thinking about it for ages; it'll definitely be the silliest of them all. My only thing with this story that I really don't like is the fact that I haven't found a way to bring Fran over to the story earlier! With that, I'll probably go through the Simon Arc to then get to the Arcobaleno Representative Arc in which even then there wasn't that much time with Fran anyway! Gaah what do I do, I want Observer-chan to meet him!

I guess I'll figure it out later...

**Fun facts:**

**\- One question that could be on your mind would be: Does Hibari get Hibird in this? I would have to sadly say that no, he doesn't get Hibird... or at least not yet. I might find a way for him to do that by other means but for this Arc, it won't happen;**

**\- In her group of friends, Observer-chan was the least talkative but that was only because her friends were even more talkative than she was and not because Observer-chan was never talkative to begin with. In other words, her friends had much more energy than she had, probably because Observer-chan was much lazier.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 28: How to effectively doom ourselves**

* * *

We did manage to find a ladder of all things to the second floor and easily climbed them up as I could only stay quiet in my stupidity. _Seriously, why did I not think of this...?_ I figured that it was probably because Hibari didn't think about it either since he could fly. _Damn that Hibari..._

"It's been pretty easy to get into the enemy's base so far; you'd think that someone would be coming after us," Gokudera remarked as we walked through the hallways of this abandoned place. Speaking of that, I was still the one in the lead simply because I knew the way and it was really uncomfortable.

To be honest, I was never one to take the lead: it wasn't as if I couldn't do it, it was more because I was more comfortable without making the decisions. Well, it's not like there would be a need to make decisions too since I wouldn't get into these situations! _I think that anyone wouldn't want to be guiding these people to danger in any normal situation..._

"It's awfully quiet here too..." Bianchi added, making me more nervous. She was right: it was really quiet here. Before, I had Hibari with me so his intimating presence wouldn't allow for me to think of the silence and when I was with Bluebell it was more annoying than anything but now that I was with these people, I could easily notice the eerie silence of these hallways.

It didn't seem like I was the only one that was uncomfortable with this conversation though as I could see Tsuna looking somewhat nervous. _We did get here to defeat Mukuro but can we really do it?_ I looked behind me again to see Tsuna; his expression hadn't changed one bit. "He's probably waiting for us," Reborn said.

"Mukuro Rokudo..." I heard Tsuna mutter, now looking kind of sad instead of nervous. Was he thinking about Lanchia? Maybe he was thinking about Fuuta as well, which only occurred to me now. It was probably because thinking about a kid that was close to stabbing me in a good light was difficult to consider in the first place.

But Tsuna knew him, didn't he? It was still confusing for me to think about the fact that he was probably being controlled like Lanchia but that was something that it was literally the best explanation that I had for that kid to do that. "Ah," I simply uttered, "We had to turn the other way instead. Uh, we gotta go back..."

I scratched my head in innocence while seeing them confused. "Tch, don't get us lost here!" Gokudera said almost as if scolding me although that only made me angry instead. I gave him a glare and walked to the opposite direction as before, somewhat embarrassed with having gotten the path wrong.

Well, it wasn't like I was planning to go through it again so it was justifiable. "Okay, this time, I'm pretty sure it's this way..." I said to myself in reassurance, trying my best to not be lost in my thoughts like before. _Besides, there are better things to think about than that kid like, I don't know, my survival!_

"You better not get it wrong again," Gokudera said, only warranting a groan of frustration from me. _You should be thankful for me even helping you in the first place! I could have been going home by now!_ Besides, those kinds of comments were only making me more nervous so it wasn't helping!

As we turned a corner, I could recognize this hallway: I got stuck here by an illusion! "We're close," I warned and looked behind me to see everyone becoming tense with the exception of Reborn, still looking exactly the same as before. The fact that he was so calm in these situations would really bother me but saying that kind of thing wouldn't help anyway.

I could already see the entrance to the room so I put myself behind everyone rather than in front of them since I didn't want to go in first. I could also see some fangirls lying there from the HFW I, bringing me bad memories.

When we actually got inside though, there was no Mukuro or Hibari to be seen. "There's no one inside but girls," Gokudera pointed out in the strangest way possible as I looked around: not even Fuuta was there.

"Although it does look like there was a fight in here," Reborn said as he pointed at the floor that was broken from what I remembered to be Bluebell's attack. _I think I'd be better off not pointing that out..._ After all, I didn't want to lose credibility, I already had Gokudera suspecting me.

_Where did they go though? Why would they move around the building while fighting?!_ Whatever, thinking about that wasn't going to help me know about their location. "Where do we go now?" Tsuna asked. I had no idea of where to go now so my guidance was pretty much useless.

"Do you have any idea on where they would go?" Reborn was directing this question at me, yet again assuming that I would know everything about Mukuro. _Damn it, I'm not psychic, why would I have any idea on where to go?!_

Suddenly, we heard a sound that made us turn around: in the distance, we saw a bird flying away. Well, it kind of looked like a bird at least, it was yellow and had feathers and wings and... Yeah, it was totally a bird. "Isn't that bird one of that creepy guy's birds?" Gokudera asked and I could only wonder on who that 'creepy guy' was.

... Actually, it didn't take me that long to figure it out when I remembered that old man's corpse. "Ah, you're right!" Tsuna confirmed this as everyone looked more serious. Since I didn't know about whatever they were saying exactly, it took me a while to process on what they were doing.

"Let's go!" Bianchi exclaimed and as if on cue, we all started running through that hallway. _Wait, how would we catch up to the bird now? We can't even see it in the first place!_ Somehow, right when I had thought about that, I heard a very high pitched voice coming from the end of the hallway that we were running towards.

It didn't even sound human, it was more like a parrot except cuter. _That is definitely something that I don't think about often._ "Mukuro, Mukuro! Enemies found! Mukuro, Mukuro~!"

"Tch, so that bastard was looking for us." Gokudera scowled; it looked like everyone was going to talk even while running.

Whether I could actually say a word though, that was uncertain. "He's probably doing the opposite: he wants us to find him."

That was a strange hypothesis that Reborn came up with but considering that using a bird that would 'speak' so loud to track us and report that to him just wouldn't work out no matter how much you'd think about it, he could've been right. "If that's the case, this might be a trap."

"Huh, so we're going right into Mukuro's trap?!" That too was bothering me and it made me glad that Tsuna actually pointed that out for me. After all, having a (somewhat) normal person with me would be pretty reassuring.

... Although I was getting kind of hesitant in calling him normal after seeing Lanchia's fight, he was at least normal after the flames on his forehead extinguish, right?

_That does not sound normal by any means._ "If we're going to find Mukuro, this is our only lead. Besides, Tsuna can take care of it," Reborn stated confidently although he did mean that we were going to take the risk of falling to the enemy's trap.

"Why me?!" The fact that our apparent hope was seriously freaking out already was also not helping me trust Reborn's words.

I sighed. _So we're doomed, right? Damn it..._

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

I'm trying so hard to get chapters out and you're all catching up to me! I like how I've announced that we'd get to Mukuro's battle when I am making a whole ton of detours and chapters of them just walking around.

Am I not just the best author? T_T I'm so sorry...


	31. Chapter 29

**First words:**

* * *

This might've become the longest chapter yet and I don't know if I should be proud of that or not... Well, it's not like I didn't like this chapter, although I noticed that Observer-chan's mood is becoming more and more sour. I can't really blame her though, it's probably too much for her brain to handle. As the title indicates, Ken is somehow involved in this: he might as well be since he never got to fight Yamamoto. Besides, sicne we're changing stuff up, we might as well change up some of the Arc too, right?

I say this as I imagine the completely altered Future Arc... I only have a vague idea of said Arc though, especially since I haven't gotten that far yet. I would sure like to though, and it would be even cooler to get to the Simon Arc and the Arcobaleno Representative Arc! That's kind of ironic since my least favourite arc is the Simon Arc since I fucking hate it- **ANYWAY! **This chapter is pretty much the set-up to the next one, so look forward to that!

**Fun facts:**

**\- Ken, much like Mukuro, had also assumed right away that Observer-chan is a hardcore Hibari fangirl; although he assumed that, he probably wouldn't care if proven wrong. If Observer-chan knew about this, she would probably be pretty angry... Let's not talk about that;**

**\- Observer-chan's grades at PE were actually above average but that wasn't saying much: it really just meant that she had around 60 to 65 which in her perspective meant 'above average'. This might be one of the few things that she is optimistic about.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 29: Ken appears**

* * *

Having run through so many hallways (that looked kind of similar to one another), the bird finally stopped in some other hallway which wasn't even in the second floor anymore. Actually, I didn't know how I even noticed that we were now in the third floor but either way, we could finally stop running.

_Sheesh, and here I thought that I was at least a decent runner..._ Maybe I was a bit too confident in myself for my above average grades at PE since I was now gasping for air for running around for so long. Tsuna was the only person to be doing the same since the others seemed just fine. _What kind of training did _they_ go through?_

Well, I could assume that Bianchi was probably dropped in some sort of radioactive liquid that gave her super powers while Reborn was somehow perfect at _everything_ at such a young age and Gokudera was proficient at throwing explosives to your face so that might've been it.

How that could have anything to do with being able to run a lot was beyond me but for now, I was better off not thinking about anything further than this. "Mukuro, Mukuro~!" The little bird was chirping (?) for Mukuro even while standing still as we got very, very close to the little thing. Our objective? Catching the thing of course: after all, it didn't seem like it was going to move at all.

"Reinforcements~!" The bird suddenly chirped as someone went through the closed window, spreading shards of glass that were dangerously close to both me and everyone else. This person happened to be Ken, who somehow did not seem injured in the slightest.

**. . .**

_... Just... give me time to process this,_ I thought as I started with the fact that as I said before, we were at the third floor of this building: how in the hell could he go through the window of the third floor?! One could assume that he might've climbed the walls but a saner person would assume that no one would really climb the walls in the first place!

With that cleared, there was Ken: how in the hell was he still standing, looking perfectly fine? He was supposedly beaten by Hibari! Now that I think about it, it wasn't as if he got bitten to death or anything, he just got knocked out. Did we really take that long with that treasurer girl and Lanchia?

But even so, there was still the most important question: Who in the hell would ever think of going through the freaking window, especially when he was already inside the building in the first place?! Besides, didn't he think of getting any sort of injury?! _Aaaargh, why does nothing make sense?!_

**. . .**

Breakdown aside, no one seemed to know him but me so I decided that I probably should be the one to react, "You! How are you here, Hibari already kicked your ass!" He snapped his head to me as if in reaction to something that he recognized: in this case, it was the girl that Mukuro wanted dead because she was in the way who was being guarded by a seemingly all-powerful angel that could turn her arm to water and fly!

"Hmph, you're still here? I won't let you bother Mukuro-san anymore!" He exclaimed, giving me a killing glare. It looked like he had one of those 'channel' things on too, what was it, the cheetah channel? Whatever it was, it was made to kill.

Everyone was looking at me, which was making me nervous. I knew the enemy, so what! That was obviously because I followed Hibari! "You did something to bother Mukuro Rokudo?!" Tsuna asked in disbelief, not at the fact that I could bother someone but at the fact that it was Mukuro of all people and anyone with common sense would probably not bother someone that could kill you so his disbelief was justifiable.

In other words, I was being so stupid that normal people (?) react to it in disbelief! "Ah, well-" "That woman called all of that super hero's fangirls over to Kokuyo and wrecked one of Mukuro's favorite rooms!" _Mukuro has favorite rooms in an abandoned building?!_ Was it the curtains?

Jokes aside (since I was definitely not in the mood for them), I'd say that it was probably because of the couch. I mean, why would you not especially like the room with something as comfortable as a couch? After all, it was most likely the only room with a couch in this whole building; this kind of building just wouldn't have couches in the first place. Lots of chairs could be in a place like this, but not couches.

... That was really off-topic. "I had no other choice!" I shouted with a hint of shame due to the fact that Ken ended up telling everyone about how I got to live another day and that wasn't something that I wanted people to know about. Who would want to say, 'I called all of Hibari's fangirls to help me out of deadly situation!' with pride?

"So that's why that room had so many girls passed out inside..." Gokudera muttered as he glanced at me with a slightly blank gaze. _Don't you dare think that I'm weird, you damned hypocrite!_ I could only hope that it didn't make me come off as some sort of Hibari fangirl.

Besides, I was apparently classified as a _freaking_ Byakuranist. _Yeah right, He would be the last person that I'd worship and obsess over._ "So I guess you caused quite the ruckus for Mukuro. That's even worse than I thought, leaving would be almost suicidal for you if Tsuna wasn't here to beat Mukuro," Reborn remarked with a lot of confidence in that last sentence.

Could Tsuna really beat Mukuro? At least that was what Reborn seemed to believe. "Hey, leaving is something that any normal person would do!" I protested, not in the mood to get insulted by Reborn. The fact that he was a baby was really starting to not matter since he acted nothing like one.

Because of that, I decided that I would be better off not questioning things based on his age. "Just because it's something that normal people do, it doesn't mean that it's not suicidal in this situation." _Damn, he has a point!_ Arguing with Reborn would never get you anywhere since he would completely crush you, I noted.

I decided to stay silent since answering further wouldn't help me in the slightest. Besides, Ken was right there. "Is your stupid conversation over? Even if it isn't, I'm gonna come for you!" He was referring to us all and not just me by the way, that might've been confusing for some.

Well, at least that's what I assume as I could no longer see him, making everyone look around. Where could he go, this was a hallway! Before I could even notice it, Gokudera was just barely guarding against Ken's claws. "Tch, you freak!" He seemed to be struggling at it too, but no one seemed to be taking this chance to do anything.

It wasn't as if I could actually do anything, so it was pissing me off that the people that could actually do something weren't doing anything at all! With that, Gokudera took his dynamite with only one hand as he tried his best to dodge the attack that was coming for him.

"Get away from me!" Lighting up that dynamite, he dropped it and we all instinctively got away from there, entering a room to the side as we heard the sound of an explosion. Said room had a lot of chairs, bringing a lot of irony to what I had been thinking about before. Beyond that, there wasn't anything special besides the unleveled floor and its abandoned look, which was perfectly justifiable.

It was also pretty dark too, which was making me uneasy. "You thought that I'd just stand there and explode? I'm way faster than all of you with the cheetah channel!" He said smugly, grinning with his tongue out. It seemed to be a thing for this person, which looked really weird to me. Who would ever talk with their tongues out?

"Hmph, I did that so we could move away from the hallway."_ I don't know about you, but I wouldn't announce my intentions in the middle of battle._ This also seemed to be a thing for everyone in here, something that I still could not comprehend.

There was also the fact that these people do not like to fight together for some reason since they always stand and watch the chosen opponent getting hurt and commenting on it. "That won't make the fight any easier for you!" I wondered why the focus was on Gokudera when it all started with my reaction but I didn't care since I definitely didn't want to be the focus in this situation.

We couldn't even see Ken getting behind Gokudera as he managed to scratch his back, with injuries similar to my own. "Guh...!" I could feel empathy for that since the wound that I had on my arm really hurt too. No one could react as Ken was now in front of a kneeled Gokudera to bite his arm, making for an even worse wound. **"AAH!"**

"Hayato!" Taking a plate of Poison Cooking, Bianchi decided to join the fight much to my surprise: and here I thought that these people would never fight together! Gokudera was clutching his arm but when he glared at Tsuna's worried face, it somehow got him to stand up right away.

He was very considerate of Tsuna, I noted although that wasn't very surprising to begin with. He noticed Bianchi as she got to his side though, which made him look at her instead. "Aneki..." He muttered, seeing her glaring at the still grinning Ken.

"You can leave the fight to me, Hayato. You're not in a good condition to fight-" "I can still go on, I'm fine." Gokudera cut Bianchi off, making her eyes widen in surprise. He glanced at Tsuna, who was still looking worried for him before exclaiming cheerfully as he lifted his arm up, "This is just a scratch!"

_That is not even close to a scratch!_ Even so, it was painfully obvious that it was just to cheer Tsuna up and he probably knew that yet he started smiling, although it was a small smile it still counted as one in its right. "Gokudera-kun..." There was only one person here that would refer to Gokudera as 'Gokudera-kun' so it was obvious on who had muttered that.

Ken was a bit distanced from Gokudera and Bianchi now, which I didn't notice before. His great speed was really troublesome for me since I could not ever know where he was. That was also very scary since he could get to me so fast that I wouldn't even be able to see him, like with my wound. Well, I could actually see him at that time but only barely and my reaction time wasn't the best...

Ken snickered, presumably at Gokudera's state. "You look pitiful! I bet you can't even move that arm properly!" Gokudera scowled as he glared at Ken in reaction to what he had just said. He was still very confident, I noted, even after easily getting his ass kicked by both Bluebell and Hibari.

"Hmph, one arm's enough to get rid of you!" Gokudera exclaimed, as confident as Ken yet not as happy as him.

He got his dynamite out but before he could actually light them and throw them at Ken, Bianchi had started speaking, "Even if you say that, I'm still helping you. You can't handle that speed of his by yourself."

Gokudera narrowed his eyes, looking kind of annoying or maybe frustrated. "Tch, fine but we're going to do 'that' instead since you'll get in my way if you do anything else." Whatever 'that' was, I could assume that it would be some sort of special move much like Bianchi's atrocities.

"If you insist." Even though she said that, she was smiling. "You're really not honest with yourself..." It seemed like she was suggesting that Gokudera was putting up a front of sorts and the idea in itself was amusing, at least to me.

After all, it could really be true in my perspective. "Shut up and get on with it! If you're not doing anything useful, you can get out of my way!" His response to that was predictably not good, but Bianchi wasn't that affected by it.

"Don't worry, I'm ready when you are." Whatever they were going to do, it sounded kind of deadly, or so I assumed.

After all, the last time this kind of thing happened, I thought that I was going to puke!

... That statement in itself can show that it was not a pleasant experience...

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Well, here you have Bianchi and Gokudera vs. Ken? The fight will be over by the next Chapter (?) and we'll get to Mukuro on the Chapter after that (?), or at least that's my plan. I can only hope that it goes according to said plan since it's a pretty cool plan. Besides, you can't even complain about short fights because there were a trillion of short fights in the Kokuyo Arc! ^^

LOL That sounded so rude but you get the idea. I got the idea for this set up on something that I recently thought up for Gokudera to have as a change but by then, it was far too late to fully implement it on Gokudera so I guess it will occasionally appear on this story?

Look forward to that, even though I didn't even tell you about it due to it being a spoiler to the next chapter?


	32. Chapter 30

**First words:**

* * *

You know, I do wonder on how I still have the inspiration to write these chapters. Like, I think I write a chapter per day so that you don't catch up to me but the fact that I'm literally close to 40 chapters was unforeseen to me. I actually thought that I'd be on a huge writer's block soon but I'm having no such problems yet; I did get a little of it on chapter 25 but after that it's all going pretty well. I have one problem though: I don't think I have enough life-threatening moments for every Real Funeral Wreath and I wanted to write them all! I guess I could still write them in the Future Arc but still...

This fight is pretty short but the focus is supposedly getting to Mukuro so I didn't want to waste too much time on Ken. Besides, this fight has nothing to do with cannon so I'm slightly proud of myself for making it up like that ^^ I'm not so proud of my descriptions though but that's really for every chapter... T_T

**Fun facts:**

**\- The couches were actually brought into the building by Mukuro: he didn't do it himself though, he just had Ken and Chikusa do it for him. This is why the couches aren't so old compared to the rest of Kokuyo Center; it's also the reason for them still being so comfortable, no wonder Mukuro wanted to put them around;**

**\- Besides their training, Gokudera and Bianchi were also subjected to being forced to do stuff together so that they'd get along better and with that, making the duo work better as a team. Bianchi didn't really care since she'd want to do stuff with him anyway but it didn't really work for Gokudera; if anything, it probably did the opposite.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 30: Contradicting pointless assumptions**

* * *

As Ken could no longer be seen (which pretty much meant that he was moving), Bianchi threw the plate of Poison Cooking that she had already gotten out to the floor, seemingly without aiming at him. This apparently wasn't true as Ken showed himself by having to dodge said plate.

"Now!" Gokudera announced and as he took out his dynamite and quickly lit them up (almost as if without anything to light them with), Bianchi got close to said dynamite and touched it with what seemed to be the same powers as with the Arrangement of Deadly-whatever.

My reason for assuming that was more obvious than it seemed, as the dynamite was turning kind of... purple. "Ultimate Poison Cooking: Thousand Poisonous Flowers!" _I wouldn't even call it cooking by this point._ He threw the now-corrupted dynamite as fast as he could but by that point, I was pretty sure that Ken would still be able to dodge.

After all, it was still dynamite, so it would be just as easy to dodge it. The area of its blast was bigger though, I noted as I saw the dangerously purple smoke resulting from the explosion. I covered my mouth and nose out of instinct, having a feeling that it would probably be toxic to inhale.

Ken was distanced from the explosion too, nothing really changing. "Is that all?" Ken asked that before I could actually do the same thing, except I wasn't looking as bored as him. That boredom reminded me of Bluebell, who seemingly enjoyed fighting and killing people.

... How she was an angel was heavily questionable. "They're not done yet," Reborn stated while smirking; I had a bad feeling about that, simply because that expression was still kind of weird to me. "That was only the beginning of the combat technique that they made up."

"They made something like that together? But I thought that Gokudera-kun couldn't get along with Bianchi," Tsuna said, looking somewhat surprised. _So they don't get along? Huh..._ I didn't know Bianchi so that was obviously something that I hadn't heard before.

Well, Gokudera did show signs of it, but I didn't have enough things to assume as such. "And he can't, although that doesn't mean that they can't work together," Reborn answered, and it looked like he still had more to say. How much does Reborn know about everything? "That skill was created by accident, when Gokudera tried to blow up her Poison Cooking."

"It ended up in chaos due to the devastating blast and it was found out that anyone inside of that purple smoke could die if they inhaled it too much. Bianchi and Gokudera's father heard of this and thought that they could make a great asset to the family if they combined their powers; with that, they were made to train it every week. Eventually, Gokudera left and made it pointless but that doesn't matter here."

He said the last sentence dismissively, not because he didn't want to talk about it but as he said, it simply didn't matter. Whatever it was, it might've been personal but I didn't really feel like prying into that kind of thing. "And that skill is called..."

**"Poison Dynamite...!"**

As if on cue, Bianchi was making more dynamite into Poison Cooking and Gokudera was throwing it around them, making an dense 'circle' of toxic smoke which would effectively guard them against Ken. "No matter how much dynamite you throw, the result is the same; you can't be as fast as me when I'm in the Cheetah Channel!"

Even though he said that, Ken wasn't moving towards them at all: I wouldn't go either seeing as I'd probably die if I got close enough to that so it was a smart choice. Besides, I was pretty sure that Bluebell was able to match his speed even in that channel. Well, it must've been Divine Luck but she still matched his speed nonetheless.

I couldn't really see what was going on inside of that area of purple smoke that was slowly fading away. "And who said that we needed to be faster than you?" I heard Gokudera said as a cake was suddenly thrown in Ken's direction. Before it could even reach Ken though, it exploded, confusing Ken to the point of halving his reaction time.

With wide eyes, Ken covered his nose and got out of that area only to appear on the opposite side of where he was before. "Poison Dynamite: Cake Edition!" Bianchi shouted the name of the atrocity as another one of them flew towards Ken but failed to do the same thing as before.

"Do you think I'll fall for that twi-" Before he could even finish that sentence, he was bombarded with cookies, all of them apparently containing dynamite as they exploded in the air. _Mini-dynamite?_ It seemed so.

The smoke was spreading through the room and to our area, making both Tsuna and me cough and hack before covering our noses. That also made me notice that the door to the room was closed so that smoke wasn't leaving the room anytime soon. "You better not breathe in this air too much or you'll end up dead."

It seemed like another cake was thrown only to make the intensity of the smoke caused by the cookies even greater. "Gokudera and Bianchi are only fine because they're used to it but you're not." _I feel sorry for Gokudera, knowing that he had to get used to poison..._ Wouldn't that be really painful?

I couldn't help but cringe a little, trying my best to not inhale the toxic air. "As for the opponent, whose traits were apparently supposed to emulate a cheetah, he probably can't hold out much longer with the smell of Poison that close to him, especially if his sense of smell was also enhanced."

As Reborn said, Ken was on the ground, looking almost dazed or even dizzy. Was it just the smell or the poison? It could even be both, which was a really scary thought. "Ugh, I can't take it anymore, I'm reliving my childhood..." I heard Gokudera say in a pained way as he also collapsed.

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna shouted in reaction to that, visibly worried about his well-being. "Wasn't he supposed to have gotten used to the smoke?!" With that, Tsuna started coughing violently, probably due to having talked like that.

As for me, I wasn't risking it, still covering my mouth and nose. "You should worry about yourself some more, you're the one that can't handle this smoke." Reborn also seemed to be covering his nose, which indicated that even he wasn't immune to it. "It's not like Gokudera isn't resistant to the poison, his childhood trauma is just that great."

"So it's something like whenever he passes out from seeing Bianchi without goggles?" Tsuna asked in reassurance, making me confused. _He passes out if Bianchi doesn't have goggles? That makes no sense!_

I think there could be a whole countdown for how many times I've said 'that makes no sense' and it didn't make me any prouder of myself or those around me. "Yeah, something like that," Reborn answered, shrugging as he did so.

_You're surprisingly calm for a place as toxic as this._ Bianchi came over to us, particularly Reborn, with a very worried look on her face. "Reborn! Are you okay?! Let's get out of here before you get hurt!" She rushed to the door and opened it just as fast, making the air pass to the hallways.

As I also got close to that door, I could still see Gokudera passed out over there. "Um, what are we going to do about him though?" I asked, feeling kind of awkward for having even mentioned it in the first place. There was a strange pause from that question, as if it was that hard to answer.

"... I'll stay here." Bianchi suddenly said, somewhat contradicting herself as she had wanted us all to leave (or maybe just Reborn). "Even though he's fine against the poison, the side effects of what Shamal gave him might weaken that resistance so it might actually be dangerous to leave him alone."

_Side effects?_ I could only imagine on what they could be. _But wait, _Shamal?!_ Didn't Mukuro mention his name as a hitman?! So everyone knows him or something?!_ I certainly didn't but everyone seemed to as not even Tsuna questioned what she said as he nodded and looked over at Gokudera in worry.

"Okay. We'll go to Mukuro while you're there so be careful," Reborn said, almost as if he was the one leading this group, even though he put so much faith on Tsuna.

With that, we all got out of the room, still feeling the fain scent of the Poison Dynamite.

This was it. Mukuro is waiting by the room in the end of the hallway. After all, that's where the bird was looking at, the farthest door...

Tsuna gulped and he was the first to step forward after a pause in our tracks, probably to mentally prepare ourselves for what was to come.

When Tsuna opened the door (since this room actually had a door unlike the previous room), the room looked even worse than the one we were just at. Some planks of the floor were seemingly ripped off and made holes in it while the walls looked somewhat unclean, making the room seem even more intimidating, not to mention the darkness that loomed over it.

Unlike the room where the HFW I occurred, there was no huge red curtain that gave it a faint light, so this room was extra creepy. "Kufufufu... I see you are finally here. I was waiting for you." This voice was all too familiar and made me immediately look over to Mukuro, who was at the edge of the room, in its center as he sat on a couch.

_... A couch?_

Yes, a couch, the ultimate irony to the useless topic that I thought of before.

**. . .**

_How... Why? Damn it, everything likes to prove me wrong..._

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

Yes, this joke had to be made, I was planning on it for too long. Besides, now you know that Mukuro's fight is here! That's super cool, right? That means that we're close to the end of the Kokuyo Arc! And here I thought that it would take more than 60 chapters...

I'm kidding but it could've taken that many chapters if I made more travel filler than what I already make. An important fight such as this one though, it will probably take a pretty long time to end. Lanchia's took um... 4 chapters? I'd say that Mukuro's will take longer than that.

Even though I say that, I'm not completely sure of it myself so yeah, look forward to it? I'll just write the chapters as I see fit so I have no planned amount...


	33. Chapter 31

**First words:**

* * *

AAAH YOU CAUGHT UP TO MEEEEEEEE-

Yup, this is the latest chapter, I literally have no chapter written after this one. Well, it's not like I'm out of ideas though, I'm pretty sure of what the next chapter will be like. Besides, I think you can also guess what it'll be about from reading the Chapter title. With this, I want to say something about my previous plans for this chapter, which included having Torikabuto appear.

That isn't really bad but Torikabuto doesn't really say anything beyond "Oh pitiful one..." or "Oh weak/powerless one (I'm not sure of how exactly to translate the word)..." And that really wouldn't get Observer-chan anywhere in terms of actual conversation. Besides, since he is also an Illusionist, it would be harder for me to get the battle done so I decided to get someone else. I do wonder if I'll ever be able to have Torikabuto appear for now since he will surely appear in the Future Arc...

Idjit - That's apparently how evryone translates this speech habit that Zakuro has, and it's pretty much a variation of the word idiot.

**Fun facts:  
**

**\- No one knows what Byakuran is thinking; we all know that. If there was one thing that the Funeral Wreaths were asking themselves, it was this: "Does Byakuran have some sort of order for when we'd have to protect that girl?" No Funeral Wreath knew that, not even Kikyo. Bluebell actually asked that (which no one would dare to do) and came to the conclusion that Byakuran might've actually just been randomly picking someone to protect Observer-chan. To this day, no one knows of Byakuran's exact answer as Bluebell claimed that she forgot all about it...  
**

**\- Mukuro was actually expecting Observer-chan to run away from Kokuyo Center and was quite surprised to find that she was going to follow Tsuna and the others instead. With this, he had completely concluded that Observer-chan was possibly the most hardcore Hibari fangirl to exist and she probably only came with them because she was worried about Hibari. How ironic considering that even the forces of Nature consider Observer-chan to be a Byakuranist.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 31: Holy Protection once again**

* * *

"Well well, and here I thought that you had taken the chance to run away but I might have expected too much out of you." These people really had a thing for briefly shifting their focus to me and Mukuro was obviously included with this. The fact that he was basically insulting me was making this even worse for me, reminding me of my desire to go home. "And to think that you also got rid of your companion... That is quite the bold move."

Reborn immediately looks in my direction in reaction to that statement, looking kind of scary as much as I didn't want to admit it. It wasn't a particularly intimidating expression either, he just looked so serious that it was almost scary. "A companion? I think you owe us an explanation here."

Was he actually suspecting me of something? "Well, uh... To be honest, she kind of just... showed up. She's not really my companion or comrade, she's..." Telling them that Bluebell was my Holy Protection that I got from _visiting Heaven_ would definitely not work and finding other terms and words to explain such a situation was proving to be very hard for me. "How do I say this..." I muttered quietly. "... A bodyguard?"

"You have a bodyguard?" Tsuna asked, somewhat perplexed. That explanation was much more ridiculous than what I thought that it would be so trying to come up with an explanation that justifies the explanation was even harder.

This was surely getting more and more complicated. "Kind of? I didn't really hire her. I'd actually say that she was 'hired' for me without my approval." _With no pay,_ I wanted to add that thought to the sentence but I figured that it probably wouldn't help me to elaborate on it any further.

"Hmph." Reborn's expression changed from serious to thoughtful as it looked like he was trying to remember something based on my words. Did I really say something insightful? I doubted it. Whatever the reason, Reborn was no longer looking sort of scary so I was slightly happier.

Only slightly happier though as everything else was too terrible to ever make me happy. "Oh? It's quite doubtful that anyone would ever bother themselves with someone of seemingly no use. Could you actually have valuable information, or are you just that lucky?" Mukuro said, still indirectly insulting me with that smirk of his.

The fact that he actually found that Holy Protection to be luck was baffling as His Divine Presence was the one that guided me here. "I'm the one that would like to know why I have to be in these situations! I have nothing special for any of you and I'm not lucky either: if anything, I'd say it's the opposite."

My frustration was making me bolder, I noted. After all, saying these kinds of things would not help me at all, especially because I'm actually defenseless. "Kufufufu... You just might be right. From the moment that both you and the Tsunayoshi Sawada entered this room, your luck ran short."

His eye kanji thing now on one, there was no floor breaking or surging fire: instead, I was apparently turning to stone.

**. . .**

"AAAAAH!" I shrieked in fear of having finally processed this.

_It's an illusion, it's an illusion...!_ "Hiii!" I heard Tsuna being as scared as me, watching me as my legs were completely solid.

_Come on, I know that this is an illusion, stop turning me to stone already!_ I shouted in my mind and when I blinked, I could see that my legs were no longer stone and that I could move them freely.

Before I could even react though, I could see Mukuro right in front of me, his trident ready to stab me.

I even heard my name being shouted by Tsuna as that happened, although I didn't even pay much attention to it. Maybe it was because I was so sure that I was going to die?

I didn't miraculously trip or anything and the previous illusion made sure that I didn't move to make enough time for Mukuro to get this close so there was no way that I would dodge that.

... Right? "Nice try, idjit!" _Who...?_

I started to actually look around me as Mukuro was quickly withdrawing the trident from me due to the sudden fire present. That fire didn't seem like normal fire though, as it was pretty much red in color. That fire was projecting itself to the floor and made a hole in it, surprisingly not burning the floor around it as it was made of wood.

Whatever the case, you could see that the fire not only made a hole on this room's floor but on the room below this one too, and possibly the one below it as well. _Seriously, who's this guy?_ He was as strong as Bluebell!

"But since I'm here, whatever you do won't work anymore." Right next to me was a man with hair as red as the fire that he could produce and eyes of the same color, smirking at Mukuro.

The coat that he was wearing was very familiar: it was the exact same coat that Bluebell was using before. Could it be...

Not only was he overly-confident, possessed highly destructive powers but he also seemed to be on my side; all of these seemed to be a sign of an angel from Heaven, I noted.

In other words, he was my Holy Protection. It was still somewhat strange to believe simply because he looked nothing like Bluebell which I assumed was the typical angel from Heaven for now but it seemed like I was wrong.

Besides, his powers were completely different, yet somehow similar and I couldn't wrap my head around that. At least he didn't seem to hate me at first sight but he wasn't even focused on me in the first place, as he was looking at Mukuro.

I was still processing everything, having just been saved from death yet again.

**. . .**

_So Heaven is not full of almost-naked little girls after all..._

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

This joke again! Anyway, I'd say that Observer-chan's reactions to life threatening situations won't be as intense now seeing as she is probably now aware of Holy Protection. Speaking of them, I have decided on making the Funeral Wreaths tougher; in other words, they'll be stronger.

How strong, you might ask? I wouldn't want to spoil you with that since this is all things that I'm coming up for the Future Arc. Honestly, I think that the Future Arc will be pretty interesting as I put more thought into it but that doesn't concern this chapter so let's drop that topic.

Now that I think about it, this chapter is pretty Observer-chan centered. Well, not really but she didn't get much dialogue in the previous chapters so suddenly having her talking to people and being the center of attentions is kind of strange to me. Too strange, really. This chapter was also kind of setting up for the next one, which is why it was so short in the first place.

Because of that, I do hope that you look forward to the next chapter, where I hope to get the Zakuro stuff out of the way and have some more Tsuna time. Speaking of Zakuro, I was so nervous. I was ripping myself apart while thinking of what to make Zakuro say. I had to watch a few episodes of the anime to get a bit of his personality which didn't help me that much beyond telling me of what I already know.

Sheesh, if Zakuro was going to be hard (like Bluebell), I could only imagine writing Torikabuto which was my initial plan...


	34. Chapter 32

**First words:**

* * *

Another person's following this story, yessss! 8D

... I'm only at the beginning of Mukuro's fight with Tsuna; actually, I'm only setting up the beginning of Mukuro's fight with Tsuna which is even more pitiful... At least you can hope for the fight in itself to not take 10 chapters? Well, I can't guarantee that either since I'm no longer 10 chapters ahead of you. Well, I can at least guarantee that I will end this fight even if I take a few days to make the damned chapters and not upload daily, this Arc will be over with! And then we'll get to a bit of Daily Life and the much hyped (only by me) Varia Arc and it will be great.

Anyway, as I said on the Author's Notes, Zakuro is hard to write because I'm never too sure on how exactly he'd react since he has varying reactions to various things throughout everything that I've seen of him. To make it worse, I don't think I have even heard him talk in the Arcobaleno Representative Battles Arc or even show up beyond one appearance so he has nothing beyond the Future Arc for me to get his personality right. Yup, Millefiore shows up an dyet they barely say a thing! Best revival ever- I'm getting off-track so let's just say that Zakuro is being very difficult to write, even more than Bluebell.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Mukuro's initial plan in the previous chapter was to quickly dispose of Observer-chan and then take care of Tsuna; however, he was definitely not expecting Observer-chan to have more than one ally. Currrently, instead of his previous assumptions that Observer-chan was just a hardcore fangirl who happened to have a very strong friend with suspicious powers, he is starting to suspect Observer-chan herself of being some member of the mafia. Whatever the case, as Observer-chan was not his priority, he didn't talk about such a topic;**

**\- All of the Funeral Wreaths do know all about the mafia, the Arcobaleno and all of that kind of stuff; they don't know about them in detail though, especially about the Arcobaleno. Kikyo knows slightly more than the other Funeral Wreaths though, but that is only because he's pretty much Byakuran's right-hand man.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 32: Trying to get your questions answered by angels is not a good idea**

* * *

Mukuro's smirk faded, almost to oppose that apparent angel's own smirk. "I was thinking of taking care of you first but..." He paused in the middle of his sentence as it looked like he was sizing up my Holy Protection. It was already obvious that he was very strong though, you'd just need to look at the hole that he made on the floor (and the floors below it)! "It seems like there is someone who truly wants you alive."

_Yeah, it's _freaking_ God!_ Why He'd ever want me to live even though He was dragging me to the most dangerous of places was already a complete enigma; thinking about Him in general would just get me pissed off. "With this in mind, you will only move if I am a threat to her, correct?"

The Holy Protection's (This name is only temporary, I hope) smirk went away as well, which only proved that Mukuro was right. Bluebell mentioned that she couldn't kill anyone, would that be applied to this guy as well? "Tch, and here I thought that I'd get some interesting fight but you're not doing anything? Then I'm only wasting my time here, idjit..." He yawned and from sheer boredom he almost looked like he was slowing sliding down to the floor, laying on it with possibly the most bored expression I had ever seen on someone.

Well, that was a quick change of mood considering that he had been smirking one minute ago. It almost reminded me of that one girl that Bianchi defeated since she also changed moods quickly, from happy and confident to angry. "It seems like I was right. If that's the case, you are a waste of time now. After all, I have yet to welcome the Vongola's Tenth, Tsunayoshi Sawada."

_Vongola? Didn't Lanchia call him that when they were fighting? And Gokudera calls him Tenth too..._ What did this mean? Everyone seemed to know except for me, which made me feel a little left out for someone that was risking her life to guide them to an empty room of fangirls. "M-me?!" Tsuna said, obviously nervous.

"Who else would it be, didn't you listen to what I said before? His target is you, No-Good-Tsuna." Although Reborn probably knew this already, Tsuna wasn't questioning such a thing because he didn't know but because he was that nervous; I wouldn't blame him, he apparently has the responsibility of kicking Mukuro's ass.

Now would be a pretty good time to have Bianchi and Gokudera so they could do that Poison Dynamite thing but we were apparently not lucky enough for that. "Kufufu, the arcobaleno even has to get you on track. Would you really be ready for the surprise that I prepared for you?"

_Oh God- Oh shit, I hope it's not like the surprise that he had for Hibari..._ I could only shudder as I thought about it, still beside Tsuna and Reborn who were both staring straight at Mukuro. He couldn't possibly have more fangirls, right? _Arcobaleno? What does he mean with that though?_

"Hey," I got on my knees and shook my alleged Holy Protection a bit since it looked like he was going to die from boredom. If I didn't need protection, why was he still here? I couldn't think of any answer. "Do you know anything about what they're saying?" He was my last resort on this so I could only hope that he wouldn't crush my hopes.

But then again, Bluebell didn't know anything either... "Stop doing that as if I was asleep, idjit. Why the hell are you so curious anyway?" He seemed kind of pissed of that I was shaking him so I stopped and assumed with his answer that he did know since he never denied it.

"Arcobaleno?" Meanwhile, I heard Tsuna question the same thing that I was thinking about as he turned to Reborn for answers. Well, Mukuro was referring to Reborn when he said that so asking him was probably the best choice.

Besides, Reborn apparently knew everything so it wouldn't be strange if he knew about such a thing. "The Arcobaleno: meaning rainbow in Italian, it refers to the cursed infants that carry with them a pacifier of a certain color of the rainbow; they're known as the strongest hitmen, the chosen seven. Having one of them to guide you already proves your position in the family, Vongola's Tenth." Surprisingly, the one explaining was Mukuro instead of Reborn, whose smirk hadn't come back yet.

. . .

"Hey, what's your name?" I suddenly asked my current Holy Protection such a question even though that was seemingly pointless.

Because of that, he was glancing at me with confusion. After having asked him something about these events and suddenly wanting to know his name was really strange so it was justifiable. "Huh? Why do you ask that all of a sudden?" I didn't answer right away since I wasn't completely sure myself so he continued talking instead, "I'm Zakuro and you better remember it since you asked, idjit!"

"Well Zakuro-san, can I ask you something?" I asked as he looked at me, raising one of his eyebrows. I might've been acting strange, but my mind was still processing the information given to me for how ridiculous it was. There was literally too much for me so I decided to focus on one thing at the time and try my best to not have a mental breakdown.

Zakuro seemed perfectly fine with whatever they were saying, which hinted more at the fact that he did know what was going on. "What?"

"...Are they lying or are they really suggesting that a baby can be a skilled assassin?"

**. . .**

Zakuro started to look as if he was going to die from boredom again (even though he was probably more troubled than anything), still laying on the floor as he muttered, "You don't even know anything; this is way more troublesome than I thought, idjit..."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Hey, a variation to my typically used ending, now Zakuro is the one going like "Oh damn it..." XD Zakuro's a pretty hard character to write because it's hard for me to know what he'd be feeling at a certain situation because of his seemingly lazy personality, his confidence and love for fighting collide with one another in certain situations. With that said, the wiki didn't help out much so I had to rely on my instincts.

As for Mukuro's fight, I tried getting an idea of what to do from the actual episodes and holy shizzle, I couldn't even do it because I set it up so differently. For now, I'll be making Tsuna actually talk and stuff instead of going after Fuuta right when he sees Mukuro.

In that way, I'll try to get less focus on Observer-chan and have Tsuna do some things since the guy hasn't done anything special in this whole story! For now, I'd say that Observer-chan just has so many questions that we'll have to listen to her say that and I'll tell you: Zakuro is probably not the best person to give explanations to others- Oh wait, shounen exposition; that makes every character good at explaining things.


	35. Chapter 33

**First words:**

* * *

** empressofthedead - Really...? 8D Having someone say that makes it really reassuring so thank you! Zakuro's a pretty fun character overall, so I really didn't want to screw it up; he had a somewhat OP X attack in Flame Rumble XX too: surging fire from above that would immediately knock the enemy down so you could totally destroy it; it's still not better than Bel's (From the Present, not the Future) knife throwing though, that was truly OP in the game. Lol That was so off-topic; anyway, thank you! ^^**

You know, I changed my mind (I do that a lot): I'll answer longer reviews with a PM and shorter ones in here; it wouldn't affect the word count of the chapters now at least.

_SUPER LATE UPDATE FTW! _Considering the fact that I wrote 1/4 of this chapter yesterday and the rest today, I think you should get used to late updates from now on. You should also expect me to not always upload daily, but I'll try really hard to see if I can make that happen. My biggest fear right now is probably uploading a chapter and seeing that that said chapter was actually terrible and ruined the story but I can only hope that it never happens, right?

Now to talk about the actual chapter: I'd say that it's quite... expressive. I don't know, the narration has a bit more of Observer-chan's thoughts sprinkled on it than some other chapters and it reminds me of the first chapter, in which Observer-chan would have her thoughts more in narration than constant thinking. In a way, it's the opposite of characters that always talk to themselves out loud instead of actually thinking; that always pissed me off. This chapter is pretty important though since it reveals a lot of stuff to Observer-chan so I do hope that's it's somewhat entertaining as well.

By the way, I've yet to start the actual fight and I'm still setting it up: now you know why this story has 33 Chapters (35 if we count the omakes).

**Fun facts:**

**\- Byakuran could've told her all about the Vongola and such; he was actually planning on doing it before but ultimately chose not to. The reason as to why he decided that was quite simple: it would be way more interesting watching these events unfold with Observer-chan not knowing anything. In other words, because he could;  
**

**\- One thing about Holy Protection is that there is no time limit for whatever Funeral Wreath to disappear like Observer-chan is assuming to be the case; with that, Bluebell didn't disappear because 'her time was up' but because Byakuran decided to have her disappear (go back to Heaven). If you haven't figured it out already, that also means that it's Byakuran's fault for Zakuro to still be there while doing absolutely nothing (^^ - Byakuran's expression even while being aware of this, especially for being aware of this).**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 33: Many revelations and one melting mind**

* * *

Apparently, I was the only one that didn't know of this common sense: you know, in which there are a group of seven prodigious babies called the Arcobaleno and that they were all hitmen. "So Reborn is that important..." Tsuna muttered, making me glad that I wasn't the only one that didn't know anything.

Well, he didn't react as much with the words 'Vongola' and such so I guess that I was the one that should know these things.

... As if, everyone is just insane. "So you were unaware of that infant's identity? You do make me wonder, Tsunayoshi Sawada," Mukuro said as I glanced around the whole room and tried my best to hear any squeals. "Although it seems like you possess some power, everything beyond that would label you as not being fit to become the Vongola's next Boss. Maybe the Arcobaleno is wasting his time on you?"

Tsuna didn't answer, even though he was visibly serious. _What's 'Vongola' anyway? Is it some company? After all, what else could they be referring to?_ I could think of many other possibilities but I didn't even want to think about them, almost as if that would make sure that such things would not be true.

"Don't think I'm wasting time here, Mukuro Rokudo." One could seriously make a countdown of how many times the name 'Mukuro Rokudo' was uttered on this day and that thought wasn't pleasant at all. "If Tsuna wasn't the actual Tenth Boss, he wouldn't even be here." As always, Reborn seemed to have a strange confidence in Tsuna, even when Tsuna himself wasn't sure that he could do anything.

I finally gave up trying to detect squeals and concluded that all of the fangirls were probably defeated in the HFW I, which was a relief to me. _If it's not fangirls then what does Mukuro have in mind? It's gotta be something just as deadly, righ-_ "Stop saying that, I already told you that I wasn't going to become the Boss of any mafia!" Tsuna's outburst was so sudden that it broke my train of thoughts; actually, that wasn't the most surprising part of what I just heard.

Vongola, Tenth... The next Boss of Vongola...

**. . .**

"Zakuro-san?"

A glance.

**. . .**

"Zakuro-san?!" This time I tried being louder, but not loud enough for everyone to focus on me.

He went from lying on the floor to a sitting position, although his expression was basically the same as before. "Alright alright, what do you want me to explain, idjit? I don't have anything better to do anyway." It looked like he had given up dying on the floor as he was now staring at me, waiting for whatever I was going to ask him.

Well, the question was really quite obvious:

"What the hell have I gotten myself into?!" I resisted the temptation to shake him since I was pretty much freaking out on the inside. Seriously, my current thoughts were something along the lines of this:

_Mafia?! Why the hell am I with people of the mafia?! Why is Tsuna from the mafia?! Is Reborn from the mafia?! Is the Vongola really a mafia family?! Did Byakuran get me involved with the mafia on purpose?! Why would He do that, why is He protecting me in the first place?! **What's going on?!**_

Trying to be calm was definitely a challenge. "Do you really want to know?" He didn't seem troubled, nor did he seem concerned for me; he actually looked pretty neutral for someone asking such a thing. Was he no longer bored to death?

"Sure...?" It was a meek response but what else was I supposed to say? I wasn't sure at all! After all, this was supposedly about the mafia and the fact that whatever was happening right now was heavily connected with that.

At least Tsuna was apparently denying any ties with the mafia which was strange yet somehow reassuring. Maybe he his involvement in the mafia is involuntary, kind of like mine? "Well, you've gotten into the affairs of the next Boss of the most powerful mafia family in the world, idjit. In other words, you would've been in a pretty bad spot if you weren't following Byakuran-sama's orders."

I noticed that Zakuro actually referred to His Divine Presence in a respectful way, making me assume that such a thing was probably more common than treating Him informally like Bluebell. In a way, I was also treating Him in an informal way but I at least didn't admire the guy- Deity like Bluebell did. "Wasn't Byakuran the one that told me to go here? He told me to 'follow the Leader' all the way to Kokuyo but that did me no good; I got the wrong Leader too!"

"What are you talking about, idjit? The Leader's right there, you know? Don't tell me you don't even know_ that;_ why would Byakuran-sama want to protect you of all people? This is such a drag..." And back to being bored to death again. When he was talking, he was definitely pointing at... Tsuna?

_Tsuna? Tsuna of all people?_

**. . .**

_Tsuna, the next Boss of the Vongola?_ And that _could_ count as a Leader of sorts...

**. . .**

**. . .**

_So Tsuna was the Leader all along?! How the hell did Byakuran expect me to know **that?!**_

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

Yup, still setting up the fight. I'd say that we're rather close, I'm pretty sure that it'll start on the next chapter since this is just getting some of Mukuro's dialogue and Observer-chan's stuff out of the way.

Which brings me to one thing: Observer-chan finally knows what's going on (kind of)! I bet you were expecting her to freak out like she did, at least I would expect that out of her. And Tsuna was the Leader all along, what a shock! Well, it wasn't really that shocking but for Observer-chan it definitely was.

I was actually planning on revealing these things later but that would have to mean that I would have to make sure that they wouldn't mention the mafia as much as I make sure that no one mentions Observer-chan's actual name (since she has a name) so I decided to write it now.

On a completely unrelated note, Zakuro Y U be so hard?! I swear that I was literally forgetting his idjits and you just can't forget the freaking idjits! To be fair, I don't think of the word idjit when I imagine it since it sounds nothing like it. To me, the thing that he usually says will always be バーロー and nothing else, making it hard for me to remember the idjits.

The fact that I had to read that out loud so many times while playing KHR Flame Rumble XX was probably a factor in this too...


	36. Chapter 34

**First words:**

* * *

Hey, a chapter! A chapter with still no actual Mukuro vs Tsuna... You know, I wrote a lot of filler in this story. I could be merging a lot of chapters together but I decide not to and I end up giving you a short chapter instead; as I said in my Author's Notes, maybe that is really why I lost a follower but then again, I think that the problems of my story are not limited to great amounts of filler.

I do like this chapter somewhat, but I feel like it might be a little confusing and that its ending is not really good. To be fair, I guess that all of my endings are not really good since they're repetitive; maybe that's also why I lost a follower. Anyway, this chapter actually has a good word count; it's not short! I'm actually kind of proud of that, as pathetic as that may sound; I spent the whole day writing the chapter ^^

**Fun facts:**

**\- Remember what I told you about Fuuta's Ranking Book and how it was left at the site of the HFW I? It's no longer there, but it's not with Fuuta either. There's someone else within Kokuyo that no one is aware of and that person's the one that has the book; now, who could that be~?**

**\- You might be wondering on how Mukuro got that knife and I will calmly tell you that he bought it somewhere. It wasn't meant for Fuuta though, that was a last-minute decision made from the convenience of certain events.**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 34: Mukuro's surprise**

* * *

_I want to leave._

_I'm so sick of this, I don't even care anymore._

_I wanna leave...!_

"Is the time to say something like that, No-Good-Tsuna? The Ninth assigned this to you because he believes in your capabilities as the next Vongola Boss, and you only have to correspond to them." Meanwhile, they were still talking, Reborn being the one that said that; me on the other hand, I was pretty much doing the same thing that Zakuro was doing: lying on the floor as if I was dying, except that I wasn't bored!

_Ah, will anyone here kill me or something for knowing this mafia business? This sucks, this sucks too much! What am I supposed to do?!_ The floor was surprisingly comfortable for being part of an abandoned building, even though it was probably because laying on it was slightly calming: maybe my problems would go away if I just... fell asleep.

... Yeah right, as if I could even sleep now. I wasn't even sure if I could sleep at night anymore! "But...!" Tsuna didn't finish the sentence, although it was obvious that he seemed to be somewhat nervous yet serious at the same time. _I__f I were in your position I'd probably feel the same way!_

"No buts, Tsuna. Why are you here?" Reborn asked, looking up at Tsuna with a very serious expression; he wasn't joking around here and it showed. Now that he mentioned it though, what were they here for again? _Wasn't it because the one kid that tried to stab me got kidnapped by Mukuro or something?_

I was almost forgetting that amidst all of what I had found out. There was a pause, but it didn't seem like Tsuna was going to stay silent. "I'm here... not because the Ninth told me to (even though I was threatened to do what he said too), and not because I'm the Boss of any mafia; I came here..."

"... To save Fuuta and defeat _you,_ Mukuro Rokudo!"

He looked up and straight at Mukuro, determination visible on his face; even so, he still seemed somewhat nervous. Reborn smirked as Tsuna's expression turned into a more panicked one instead of actually maintaining such determination. "But how am I supposed to do that, Reborn?! There are no more Dying Will Bullets, right?!"

_Dying Will Bullets? Could they be like the bullet that Reborn used to shoot Tsuna which somehow made him stronger?_ That question sounded so strange in my mind that I couldn't even think about its answer properly. I assumed that it was a yes though, since that bullet ressurected him! "Take this then, it's the whip that Dino gave you."

Whoever Dino was, that person apparently gave Tsuna a whip; why he would do that was questionable but I ultimately decided that it probably wasn't something worth thinking about. Tsuna quickly yet hesitantly took that whip but didn't do much further than that. _Can he even use a whip?_ I somehow doubted it. "What am I supposed to do with _this?!_ I don't even know how to use it!"

"It doesn't matter if you don't know how to use it, you don't have anything else to use. Besides, you just said that you wanted to defeat Mukuro, didn't you? So do it!" _Says the one that only watches everything; if you're so strong, why don't you beat Mukuro instead?_ He did mention something about 'The Ninth' assigning Tsuna to whatever, which I assumed it was to either save Fuuta or defeat Mukuro. Wait, the Ninth?

**. . .**

... Oh, the Ninth Boss of the... Vongola. I sighed for actually thinking about it, having known that it wouldn't help me at all to do so. "That's way too unreasonable!" Tsuna protest with good reason as there was no way that he could just defeat Mukuro with a weapon that couldn't even use.

"Kufufufu, where did that determination of yours go? You seem to be aware of the fact that you will not be able to defeat me. And if that is the case, you might as well end up just like Fuuta-kun; but didn't you say that you were going to save him?" It almost seemed like Mukuro was taunting Tsuna and it was working; Tsuna seemed kind of pissed off, or maybe even sad.

Wasn't I supposed to be going home by now? _I have this feeling that I'll be dragged here again if I do._ Since that was probably true, I decided to stick around; after all, I had Holy Protection for a reason, right? Whatever that reason was... I decided to sit on the floor instead of lying on it as I watched these events. "What did you do to Fuuta?!"

"What did I do indeed..." The fact that Mukuro seemed so amused only made him look more despicable and maybe he knew of this but that would make him even more despicable than I thought. "Do you want to know? After all, this would really be the best time to show the surprise that I prepared for you."

_So it has something to do with Fuuta? What, is it a free stab or something?_ "If you're talking about that presence that's been in this room all along then he's right there in the corner, idjit." Still on the floor, he was pointing to the right as he had suddenly said that; after all, it's not like I was expecting him to contribute to these events in the first place.

Maybe he was bored or just wanted things to move on already, or maybe just because he could; whatever the case, it was somewhat helpful. "Fuuta?" I instinctively cowered to the left to be farther away from what was supposed to be Fuuta, not wanting to almost get stabbed again.

Coming from the shadows was in fact the kid that was trying to stab me before, but he didn't even glance at me; it was almost as if he didn't recognize me at all. _So maybe he really _is_ getting controlled by Mukuro?_ "Fuuta!"

A countdown of how many times I heard the name 'Fuuta' could probably be made too; could a countdown of how many countdowns I have made be made as well? _What am I even thinking about...?_ "Huh wait, the trident head that he was wielding... I don't see it!" I said as I tried to look at him more closely to prove myself wrong: unfortunately, he truly did not have such a thing with him.

"Kufufu, and why would he always have it with him? It was never his to begin with." _Then where is it? Maybe Mukuro has it? Or maybe..._ I didn't want to think about it, but someone else could be carrying that dangerous thing and that only made me feel more uncomfortable.

Tsuna didn't seem to have heard what I just said or simply didn't mind it but it was definitely strange; why was Mukuro even planning this surprise anyway? "Are you okay, Fuuta?!"

"I..." Fuuta actually started speaking, but he sounded somewhat dull; kind of like Lanchia, except with somewhat less emotions than him.

Tsuna was looking at him expectantly but it suddenly faded into an expression of worry. "Is something wrong?" Like me, he was probably somewhat suspicious of this situation in general, or at least that's what it seemed like to me.

Hesitantly, Tsuna walked closer to Fuuta until he was somewhat within arm's range of him. I couldn't help but grimace as I saw Mukuro smirking on the side; this was too weird. "Although he does not have the weapon that you wanted to see," he started as I stared at him blankly. _I _don't_ want to see it, I really _don't_ and I bet you know that I don't too._

"... I don't need you anymore!" Fuuta suddenly said, having me assume that when he was saying 'I...' he was going to say that sentence; was he hesitating then? Even so, the shock from it was great.

It was so impactful to Tsuna that his eyes were wide in surprise as he said nothing but this, "Fuuta...? What are you saying?"

"... I made him carry a weapon that was just as deadly instead." Meanwhile Mukuro finished his own sentence with strange timing as Fuuta took out what seemed to a knife from afar as he tried to make a cut on Tsuna with it.

He was close but from sheer instinct (or so it seemed), Tsuna had backed away from Fuuta. "Be careful, Tsuna! Fuuta's acting weird!" Reborn warned Tsuna even though what he just said was fairly obvious to me and I didn't even know Fuuta.

"But why?!" That obvious question came from Tsuna as he was dodging another attack of Fuuta's knife. It didn't seem like any sort of special knife though, and His Divine Presence never told me to be careful of people with knives.

... But then again, he never told me about the Leader's identity either and look at what that got me into. _Damn that Byakuran..._

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

_"Tsuna quickly yet hesitantly took Mukuro's rope." - The strange land of Namimori, 2014_

Yes, I wrote that by accident when I was writing a certain sentence of this chapter and you might recognize it from having just read it. Seriously though, Mukuro's rope? What the hell am I thinking on the depths of my mind?! It's definitely about Mukuro's rope, that's for sure...

Jokes aside, I'm still setting up Mukuro's fight! Maybe that's why I lost a follower because if that's the reason then I'm not even surprised; I wouldn't be so happy with that either. Well, but then again, something similar happened in the actual episode so this is 'cannon'?

In the actual episode, Mukuro barely interacts with Tsuna and gets Fuuta to chase after him for almost half of the episode until Tsuna takes out his mind control and then he goes bat shit, tries to kick Mukuro's ass with the whip and fails miserably only for Mukuro to completely own him and showing him all of his eye abilities, blah blah blah possession of Bianchi.

I kind of wanted more interaction with Mukuro so I didn't have Fuuta show up right away and I think this part with Fuuta will last for the half of the next chapter and then the actual fight will start. I have some plans for it but I never follow my plans so yeah, I don't know what I'll do with the next chapter.

To be perfectly honest, I never know exactly what I'll do with my chapters, they just... come to me on the spot.


	37. Chapter 35

**First words:**

* * *

I am _so _late! Well, such is life I guess; as much as I look like it, I don't have a lot of free time, especially now. I will have lots of free time on June but that's another thing. I literally spent more than a day writing this chapter and it took some effort for me to finally get it done so I can only hope that it doesn't really suck or said effort will be thrown out of the window. Besides, it was already a miracle that I got to upload this today so I can only hope that it's worth it.

Despite the fact that I'll be more busy and with less time to finish the story, I will definitely get to the Varia Arc; I just have to get there so I can write my plans for it! Like, even though most of the actual stuff related to Observer-chan and major changes will be in the Future Arc, I'm still somehow super hyped for the Varia Arc instead; it's probably because it's going to be the silliest of them all, you have no idea. Although I wrote a theme that I'm not familiar with (fangirls) in this Arc, the Varia Arc has an overall theme that I'm more knowledgeable on so I'm pretty psyched!

... I really should stop talking about Arcs that I haven't written yet. Either way, I kind of like this chapter: it has a bit of Observer-chan's involvement in it but I still think that it was somewhat cool. Besides, I thought that it could make you think back to the previous chapters going like, "Oh yeah, there was that... ^^" Well, I do hope that my story is worthy of that ^^'

**Fun facts:**

**\- Believe it or not, Observer-chan always wanted a younger sibling; whether she seems like a good Older Sister is somewhat questionable but Observer-chan herself seems to think so. That is also one of the few things that she's optimistic about even though her mother has made it clear that it was _not_ going to happen;**

**\- One other thing that Byakuran told the Funeral Wreaths was to not tell about anything that's happening to anyone but maybe (only maybe) Observer-chan; fortunately (or unfortunately for Observer-chan), as I had already clarified, the Funeral Wreaths didn't know of anything special either so this was not possible. Because of this, everyone besides Observer-chan will assume (And some have already assumed) that they're from some sort of mafia family; Reborn will be looking for that information, that's for sure. He won't find anything though so it would be pretty pointless, no? (^^ - Byakuran's expression while being aware of this, especially because he's aware of this).**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 35: How to effectively yet unwillingly use your Backup Plan**

* * *

"It looks like he's under mind control." Somehow, pointing out obvious information had become a thing around here and I definitely didn't like it. Did Reborn think that we were stupid or something?

... Then again, I did some stupid things while I was here and Tsuna seemed to not know these things. "But how do we get him back to normal- Waah!" Tsuna seemed to be dodging for his life and struggling with doing so as Fuuta relentlessly tried to cut him with that knife.

Although that was true, Fuuta seemed like he was struggling with that too; it almost seemed painful for him to do it. His expression seemed to be of frustration yet his eyes were still somewhat dull like Lanchia's; it only reminded me of the fact that this boy, the one that was trying to stab me before, was being controlled which meant that he must've been suffering.

No matter how I thought of it, it was cruel; Mukuro was cruel. "That's what you have to find out, Tsuna!" Tsuna let out a loud, "Eeeeeh?!" at Reborn's answer, probably due to having expected Reborn to at least give decent advice to him.

To be fair, who wouldn't rely on the genius baby assassin? I mentally sighed. To my surprise, Tsuna was now running towards Mukuro, reminding me of the fact that he did have a whip. _Is he going to take down Mukuro first to stop the Mind Control? That's way too reckless!_

Not only that but Fuuta was also going after him with a freaking knife; it would probably be pretty hard to defeat Mukuro while dodging it! "Oh?" Mukuro seemed to take notice of this but did absolutely nothing; was he underestimating Tsuna that much?

Well, the fact that he is only strong when he gets killed and resurrected by some weird bullet would be pretty pathetic by any standards. When he was apparently 'close enough' (since he didn't seem that close) to Mukuro, Tsuna tried to attack him with the whip only to hit himself with it and fall to the floor.

... That was possibly one of the most embarrassing and pathetic things that I had ever seen in my life; Mukuro was actually laughing at him, Zakuro actually rose from the floor to laugh at him! "You really do make me wonder, Tsunayoshi Sawada; you seem to think of some interesting things." Was Mukuro mocking him? I somehow wasn't surprised with that.

Tsuna couldn't even stand up as a knife was already on its way to him; how he was able to move out of the way while still on the floor was as miraculous as how I managed to dodge Fuuta's trident stab by tripping and falling down. When Tsuna did stand up though, he was back to avoiding being cut by the knife.

I wanted to go home; besides, I also didn't want to see any more of this. With this in mind, there would be only one way to make Fuuta stop, at least temporarily, trying to kill Tsuna: knocking him out! It worked for me so it would definitely work for Tsuna.

Unfortunately, Tsuna probably didn't know how to do such a thing and Bluebell was the one that knocked him out so the only person here that could do anything was Zakuro. Said Holy Protection was looking less bored and watching the fight with slight disinterest; getting him to help Tsuna of all people would be hard.

Well, at least I had to try. "Zakuro-san." I found that I was trying to get his attention by calling his name a lot and I honestly found that to be pretty weird. Why didn't I think of that before? When he looked at me, still with slight disinterest, I asked, "Can't you help him out with Fuuta?"

"Help that kid? As if, don't think that you can tell me what to do just because I'm protecting you, idjit. Besides, Byakuran-sama told us to not get in the way of whatever's going on unless you're in danger; does it look like you're in danger?" As expected, Zakuro wasn't willing to help out.

_Wait, Byakuran told them to not interfere with anything unless I'm in danger? Why would he, their sheer existence is an interference! But then..._ "If that's really it then why did you point out where Fuuta was?" After all, I wasn't in danger then so wouldn't he be going against Byakuran?

Well, it's not like Byakuran looked that intimidating, he was somewhat creepy though... _He's always smiling too, ugh..._ Since I was getting more and more pissed off as thought about him, I decided to stop actually focus on more important things than that. "That brat could've gone after you, idjit," Zakuro simply answered and truthfully, there wasn't a need to say anything else related to that.

Which meant that I had to get Zakuro to help by other means: if he could only do anything when I'd be in danger, then I'd have to make Fuuta target me.

... That really didn't sound like a good idea. "MUKURO!"

... But I did it anyway. _I'm so dead._ He shifted his gaze to me as I was standing up while Zakuro was staring at me with suspicion; he was definitely catching on to what I was doing. _If he doesn't do anything I'll be _so_ dead._

"Is that all you got? Are you just going to have a kid try to kill Tsuna and watch? And here I thought that you could do better than that!" _I'm **so** dead._ Even though I shouted that out in such a loud voice and sounded so smug, I was literally scared shitless on the inside; Zakuro was really not the best emotional support to have.

Mukuro didn't seem affected at all by what I said, smirking as he looked at me with slight amusement. "Kufufufu, could it be that you're trying to taunt me? If so, that was quite the laughable attempt at such a thing; do you think that I would ever waver with those words?"

_Ouch..._ I could swear that Zakuro was also somewhat amused by how terrible I did at taunting Mukuro and I did not feel like saying anything about it. With that, I concluded that getting help from Zakuro or getting Fuuta to target me was almost impossible but I didn't lose hope. After all, there was still Plan B, the one that I didn't want to resort to:

The slap to the face!

"Idjit, what are you doing?!" Zakuro did not seem so happy when he saw me running towards Tsuna and Fuuta and neither did Mukuro; well, he seemed more curious than anything but he was definitely not smirking anymore. _I am SO dead!_

Tsuna was busy running away, having already tried the whip on Mukuro and even Fuuta but failing miserably, and his expression became that of surprise when he glanced at me as I was getting closer to Fuuta and him. "What are you doing here?! If you get between us, who knows what'll happen to you!"

He seemed to be worrying for me for some reason, even though he was also in danger as well; was this part of his nature? Even so, I did exactly what he didn't want me to do; I got in the middle of Tsuna, whose panic was obvious and Fuuta, whose suffering could also be seen from meters away. "You should be worrying about yourself instead!"

Before Fuuta could even attempt to get past me (to get to Tsuna), I rose my hand as it swooped down to his face with moderate force; my mother was better at this kind of thing. _**"Snap out of it already!"**_

"... You're worrying everyone for nothing."

Harsh as those words were, Fuuta was giving more attention to the cheek that got my slap as he had a hand over it, almost as if trying to feel if it was real. He seemed shocked, a shock similar to Lanchia's and I could see Tsuna's worried yet thoughtful gaze as I assumed that he was probably thinking the same thing.

Before we knew it, Fuuta fell to his knees as tears went down his face yet the hand with the knife was still trying to decide whether to actually stab someone or not.

It was quite the pitiful sight. "Fuuta..." Tsuna got in front of him as I moved to the side, seeing him taking Fuuta's knife out of his hands. "Mukuro made you do terrible things, didn't he? That's why you feel guilt inside of you; but you didn't do anything wrong. You didn't do anything wrong so let's go back home, okay?"

_Wait, does Fuuta live with Tsuna?! Are they related? That would be awkward, I just slapped his brother in the face..._ Those thoughts aside, I smiled slightly at this scene before me, as Fuuta broke down in tears while sobbing loudly and Tsuna's smiling expression that would make anyone feel warm.

... That is, until Fuuta passed out; was he exhausted or was it something else? Did it have anything to do with Mukuro's Mind Control? "Well well, it seems like his mind broke down from your actions; you seem to enjoy getting in my way." I was certain that he was referring to me but I didn't even try to answer, knowing that it would be pointless.

Seeing as he knew that I wouldn't even spare him an answer, he shifted his attention to Tsuna instead. "Without any other means to subdue you, it seems like I will have to fight directly."_ Subdue? Wasn't he trying to kill Tsuna? What is he after anyway?_ I had a feeling that it would take some time for those questions to be answered. He stood up, leaving the seemingly comfortable couch free for others to sit on it. Unfortunately, I was sure that I would never get the chance to be sitting there.

"Huh?" That was all that Tsuna could say from how apparently sudden it was as Mukuro's eyes reflected the kanji for four and he was wielding his trident.

There was this feeling of doom in the room, and it mostly came for Tsuna. "Here I come!"

"Huh?! Hiiii!" I got away from Tsuna since I didn't feel like getting injured as I could see that Zakuro was still kind of pissed off.

Even so, I hesitantly sat back down to where I originally was, and that happened to be next to Zakuro although I was still at a fair distance away from him. "What the hell did you think you were doing, idjit?!"

"Plan... B...?" He gave me a blank look that was perfectly justifiable as I was trying my best to not sound sorry since I did not feel the need to apologize to the one angel that's there only because His Divine Presence somehow wants me alive or he wouldn't even care.

Even so, it was difficult to not feel really stupid because of how reckless I was and that was definitely my fault (and partially my mother's fault too but that's another thing...). "I know what I did, okay? Ugh..."

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**Author's Notes:**

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My oh my, this was kind of serious; I think I made this more serious than the actual series. Even so, I'm still somewhat proud of this chapter; after all, I put a lot of effort into it. Believe it or not, I spent a day in a half writing this and I couldn't even upload it in due time because it was too late at night.

For that, I am deeply sorry but I hope that this chapter is actually cool or I think I'll die...!


	38. Chapter 35,5

**First words:**

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_I'M ALIVE BIATCHES! _With a new favorite and a follower too, I'm so sorry for not having updated sooner to announce this.

Well, a wise person (You know who you are ^^) once or twice told me that rushing my story would only lead to it being terrible and she did have a point so I'm not going to rush it at all; this is proven by how long I took to get these chapters out so expect to wait ^^'

But wait, 'these' chapters? Oh yes, this is an omake chapter and I have also uploaded chapter 36! 8D

Now to talk about this chapter: as I said, it's an omake chapter that I impulsively wrote because I just had to. No, I'm serious, it was stuck on my head ever since chapter 34 or 33! I think I even tried to make a two-shot completely based off of this but I failed miserably! If I had gotten it right, it would've been a really strange crack fic, that's for sure.

By the way, this chapter is an alternate version of what would've happened in the beggining of Chapter 44 so the fact that they both have the same start is on purpose; after all, this is an alternative 'event' and therefore, not cannon to this non-cannon fanfiction since I don't own KHR! Yes, I know, I have not put any disclaimer yet but I guess I might as well say it now: I don't own KHR! Now that that's over with, let's get to the actual chapter.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Ken wasn't the one that put the rope in the wrong place, it was actually Chikusa as Ken asked him to do it instead of him as much as Chikusa said that it was troublesome. With this, one would feel sorry for Ken who was placed as a culprit for such a thing...**

**\- When Mukuro talks about 'certain heavy things', one of them are the couches that were placed in certain rooms of the building. Not only that but sicne he had already assumed that Kokuyo Center was going to become a temporary base of sorts before he leaves for Italy, he knew that he would have to make renovations so he also has plans for that; not much will be done though, considering the members of the Kokuyo Gang.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 35.5: Omake 3**

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I sat on the floor yet again, having done all that I could to help Tsuna. Well, he was now going to face Mukuro so I'd say that I probably made the situation worse...

Either way, Mukuro wasn't even trying to be fast as he charged at a very panicked Tsuna with a certain amount of elegance that was somewhat strange to see from someone who was supposedly cruel and evil; but then again, the way that the speaks also holds some sort of strange elegance to it so it might really just be his nature.

Tsuna, with nothing else to do in defense to such a thing since the whip was pretty much useless, ran farther and farther to the back until, **"Waah!"**

Somehow, he tripped over something and he fell face-first to the floor which actually made him not get hit by the attack that Mukuro did right before Tsuna tripped. That was as lucky as that one time with Fuuta...

"The whip again- Huh?!" Seeing that the whip was actually in front of him and not anywhere near his legs, he tried looking for something that could've made him fall to the floor.

What he found was... pretty strange for a situation like this. "Oh? It seems like Ken was a bit too careless; he left my rope in this room even though I explicitly told him to bring it over to the second floor instead. How could we ever finish the renovation of that room now?" Even though he said that, he didn't sound all that bothered, almost as if it was no problem to him.

It was probably a problem for Ken though but I didn't even feel sorry for him seeing as he was the one that wounded my arm! "Rope...?" Tsuna also seemed somewhat perplexed at this since it was so random and I couldn't even blame him for feeling that way.

"Yes, that is a rope. It would have certainly helped to carry certain heavy things while Ken was absent." He was talking almost as if he didn't really care with a hint of a mocking tone (directed at Tsuna) yet I had a feeling that it was something important. _Besides, what does he mean with 'certain heavy things' anyway?_

Tsuna quickly yet hesitantly took Mukuro's rope for some reason that I wasn't completely sure of-

... Is it just me or there's something _really_ wrong with that sentence?

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**Author's Notes****:**

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I had to do it, I just **HAD** to! Actually, I don't think you should consider this to be cannon (of this fic), you really shouldn't.

As far as I'm concerned, Observer-chan had a bit of a strange daydream; yeah, that's totally it!

Not cannon (of this fic) at all! _Not **AT ALL!**_

Because of that, the chapter will start at where this omake started. Well, to be fair, all omakes can really just be non-cannon (of this fic) but still, you get the idea.


	39. Chapter 36

**First words:**

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**Obligatory Warning since I'm strangely paranoid about this: There was an omake chapter before this one and if you didn't read it, you skipped ahead! If you did then ignore this because it's just me being weird.**

I was actually already done with the omake long before I was even writing this chapter but I decided that it would be better to upload both of them at once instead of just putting out a potentially stupid omake. You might be thinking that I had Writer's Block but I really didn't as I had this outcome planned since chapter 19 or something and it was just me procrastinating and being lazy; after all, I have many more interests than KHR and much more songs to listen to beyond the awesomeness that is the KHR soundtrack so I got a bit distracted with them. Besides, I already apologized in the Author's Notes and that's why I'm not apologizing here.

Seriously, I do wonder on how I still have inspiration for this story, I still have a good idea on what I'm doing with this (somewhat). Anyway, this chapter, although not lacking in inspiration, was pretty hard to write for one reason: I did _not_ feel like writing Mukuro's exposition. Instead of that, I made Observer-chan not pay much attention to it, making me glad yet again that this is not in third person. Thank you, Observer-chan!

**Fun facts:**

**\- To get some more details on what happened in the fight between Mukuro and Hibari, I'll tell you this: Hibari got cherry blossom-KO'ed again since Mukuro couldn't bother beating Hibari for the time being and left him at the site of the HFW I only to be found by a certain someone and de-cherry blossom-KO him, bringing him to another part of the building. She also took care of some of the wounds that he received although she couldn't do anything about the Sakura-kura disease and left. With that, Hibari has no idea on where she went but he really didn't care either; well, except for the fact that he was indebted to her (even though she said nothing of the sort) but that is for later, he decided as his rematch came first;**

**\- The one that I mentioned having the Ranking Book is indeed the same person revealed in this chapter; due to it being so heavy though, she left it somewhere safe with plans to give it to Haru since she would have a better idea on who the owner of such a thing was. She didn't read through it though, as curious as she was about it.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 36: A shockingly strange revelation**

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I sat on the floor yet again, having done all that I could to help Tsuna. Well, he was now going to face Mukuro so I'd say that I probably made the situation worse...

Either way, Mukuro wasn't even trying to be fast as he charged at a very panicked Tsuna with a certain amount of elegance that was somewhat strange to see from someone who was supposedly cruel and evil; but then again, the way that the speaks also holds some sort of strange elegance to it so it might really just be his nature.

Honestly, I had no idea on how Tsuna would ever get out of this situation without a miracle or at least a bullet that resurrects you and temporarily gives you powers; unfortunately, he had none of those.

As Mukuro got closer to him, Tsuna decided to try the whip again; how that would ever be effective was beyond me but to give him credit, he was at least trying. As he tried his best to direct the whip towards Mukuro, said trident-wielding person had already passed him, having done a great amount of... nothing.

"Um-" "He hit the brat, idjit; he was just too fast for you to notice it." I watched with surprise as various light wounds appeared all over Tsuna's body and he winced in pain, making me see Mukuro in a whole different perspective: if Bluebell hadn't appeared, I would've surely died.

That only proved the strength of my Holy Protection and yet, that didn't make me any more comfortable. When Mukuro turned around, I saw that purple-ish (?) flame in his eye yet again as Tsuna looked at it with surprise. "A Dying Will Flame?!"

_A what now?_ So that flame was a Dying Will Flame? _And the bullet was called Dying Will Bullet... So they're connected, right? Does that mean that the flames on Tsuna's forehead were also Dying Will Flames?_ "Oh, so you see it? That is quite rare."

"What does he mean? I see it perfectly." Somehow, I decided to rely on Zakuro for explanations even though I would never be sure if he would even explain things in the first place; it's hard to know what angels are thinking, that's for sure.

As far as I knew, Zakuro could just disappear all of a sudden like Bluebell and make me freak out so it was hard to not be on your guard even while having Holy Protection with me. "That's because Byakuran-sama's making you see it, idjit."

_Oh, so it's all on Byakuran?_ That made me feel slightly more disappointed in myself since that pretty much meant that I was relying on His Divine Presence.

... But then again, that is pretty much what I was doing; after all, Holy Protection does come from His Divine Presence. "Okay, but why would he want me to see those Dying Will Flame things?" I asked, having noticed that Mukuro, Tsuna and Reborn were talking to each other.

What I picked up from loosely listening to that was something along the lines of Fourth Paths, reincarnation and aura which only made me realize that the kanji on his eye (ugh...) corresponded to each of the six paths of reincarnation and that the fourth one only made him slightly stronger.

_Did he also say something about having been to all six Underworlds...?_ I didn't feel like assuming that (as impossible as it was) since that could only mean that he was much stronger than what I thought he was. "Like I know, idjit; if it's Byakuran-sama's will then you should be grateful that he's doing that to you in the first place."

_Oh yes, I'm _so grateful_ that God Himself has taken his precious time to get me here for unknown reasons!_ Meanwhile, I decided to focus on Tsuna and Mukuro instead of asking any further questions to Zakuro. "Then I shall show you..."

Seeing that Mukuro's eye now had the kanji of 1 on it, I wasn't so bothered with whatever was going to happen; that only meant that he was going to use his illusions and I already knew that they weren't real so falling for them would be really hard. "The skills that I learned from the six realms, starting with the first one; The Path of Hell."

I was expecting to finding myself get almost burned or something but it seemed like the only one that was being affected by the illusion was Tsuna, showing me how stupid I looked when I had been in illusions myself since I probably did the same thing that he was doing right now: somehow drop to the floor while shaking his arms around as if not knowing what to do in the middle of a fall while screaming out the names of his friends; some of them, namely Gokudera, were not even here.

"Wake up, No-Good Tsuna!" With a kick so strong that I could almost feel it, Reborn had made Tsuna snap out of the illusion.

Knowing who had done such a thing, Tsuna turned to Reborn looking really mad as he said, "Hey, why did you- Huh? Where's everyone? And why's everything back to normal?" It seemed like he still hadn't realized that none of it was real and it was somewhat stupid if seen from the perspective of the person that wasn't affected; even Reborn had seen an illusion but had broken out of it so fast that it didn't even make a difference.

It certainly didn't make him hesitate in kicking Tsuna with impossible strength for his body but he was apparently special so impossible things were supposedly justified. _Let's... not think about that._ "You saw an illusion," Reborn answered in the simplest way possible.

I wondered on why neither Zakuro nor I got affected by the illusion that was apparently supposed to affect everyone but I had this feeling that it involved His Divine Presence and I did not feel like hearing about Him. "An illusion?"

"So you saw through it; well done. But that does not make up all my skills," Mukuro said as the kanji in his eye changed to 3 and that only meant one thing:

_Oh not the snakes!_ Before I could cower in fear the door was slammed open, making me surprised that it had been closed in the first place. "I finally found you."

I didn't even need to turn around; his voice was that recognizable. _Hibari... the super hero?_ Did it even matter that he was a super hero now? Super heroes don't get their asses kicked! "Hibari-san!" Tsuna seemed honestly relieved to see him but I wasn't sure if it was either worry for his wellbeing or because Hibari could handle this better than he could; honestly, it might've been both.

"How are you here now, we couldn't find you at all!" I was the one that raised this question as Hibari should've been lying on the floor of the site of the HFW I in defeat since Mukuro was standing here as if nothing had happened to him; if that was the case, then where the hell did he come from?

And most of all, why did he get his ass kicked in the first place?! "I was taken away from that room by Kyoko Sasagawa; I have yet to repay my debt to her." He sounded especially annoyed at the last part of that sentence, implying that he _really_ didn't like to be indebted to someone.

... And that someone happened to be Kyoko Sasagawa.

Wait, Kyoko Sasagawa? _What?_

Both Tsuna's reaction and my reaction were exactly the same:

**_"KYOKO-CHAN DID WHAT?!"_**

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**Author's Notes:  
**

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LOL Surprise?

I'm so sorry for procrastinating,_ I'm so sorry for procrastinating,_ **_I'm so sorry for procrastinating!_**

Like, it's not that I don't have inspiration to go on with the story, it's really because I'm lazy so I'm really sorry! Either way, were you expecting this? I hope not or I suck at twists. To be fair, Kyoko is a Master Illusionist in here...

I hope you also like the omake that I wrote as a bonus which is before this chapter? ^^'


	40. Chapter 37

**First Words:**

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**L's Cappuccino - LOL Does that mean that it was a somewhat decent twist 8D? Not that I did much (or any at all) foreshadowing for it but you know, I like to think that I have good writing skills ^^' If it was a Hibari fangirl though, I would have to give her some importance and I'm trying pretty hard not to make more OCs than Observer-chan and even then, I have to write her parents. Besides, that fangirl wouldn't be able to do the stuff that Kyoko can and I kind of need that, so there is a reason as to why I added Kyoko in here that was planned ahead for a while now. If only I could plan more stuff ahead like this...**

Like, this story got about 3 favourites, 3 followers and 2 reviews while I wasn't uploading, I'm so happy! Honestly, that was really one of my main motivations to get the Chapters done already so I am very grateful in many ways! Speaking of reviews though, ColorfulSky (formerly Celestial-Mage231?) was asking about what HFW I stood for and although I already answered that through a PM because I knew that I would take _this long_ to get a chapter out, other people could be asking that so I'll tell you that it means **Holy Fangirl War I**, one of Observer-chan's many inside-jokes in her narration. Honestly, I don't blame anyone for forgetting since this has so many chapters and looking for the chapter where this is mentioned is a _pain in the ass_ so yeah, I get it ^^

Anyway, I already had this chapter written for a pretty long time but I wasn't sure if I could pull off the next chapter so most of the time was spent writing Chapter 37 instead of this one. I would've finished it earlier if not for the many distractions that came to me in my life starting with Otome Games like Shinobi, Koi Utsutsu (GARAAAAIYA-KUUUN) and Lucian Bee's (Fuck yeah, best heroine ever), getting a really nasty cold that lasted about a week, getting Durarara! 3-way Standoff -Alley- (the Durarara! game) and playing the shizzle out of it and just me all around being lazy, so I guess you could say I had quite the eventful month.

Having finished that Chapter and commiting myself to write from there instead of erasing all of my effort since the chapters in themselves weren't that bad, I am now here to present you with the surprising long Chapter 37. No, seriously, this chapter is pretty long for what it really is: more set-up. I honestly think that I shouldn't do so much set-up and just finish all of this already but I don't know, my instincts just do this to me! Because of this, I have meticulously calculated that the Kokuyo Arc would end precisely on Chapter 57 from the _wonderful _pacing of this fic and judging by the fact that I plan on ending this fanfic on the ending of the _Future Arc_, you can see just how many Chapters this is probably going to have. Oh, if you're wondering about the Simon Arc and the Arcobaleno Representative Battles Arc, I'll probably make a sequel fic for it but since I'm not sure I'm officially setting the ending of this fic to the ending of the Future Arc.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Kyoko did pass by Yamamoto and Lanchia; she would've taken less time with saving Hibari if she hadn't gone through the trouble of taking a first-aid kit (while muttering a pretty sad, "I'm sorry" for having stolen it) from one of the unconscious fangirls and see if she could do something. Unfortunately, Kyoko's experience with this equaled Observer-chan's so it really didn't do much for anyone;**

**\- Many members of the Disciplinary Committee have offered to be Hibari's sidekick: all of them ended up bitten to death.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 37: A hopeless battle dependent on someone hopelessly dense**

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"Kufufu... Are you insinuating that someone sneaked in here without being noticed? You say quite the interesting things. Unfortunately, it seems like you are speaking the truth or you wouldn't even be standing right now." This turn of events was almost unbelievable.

Somehow, Kyoko of all people had gone in this building for whatever reason and actually managed to rescue Hibari or something like that (I didn't really get much of an explanation from him) and for all I knew she could be anywhere.

I mean, I knew that she could disappear in mist and have a fake version of herself to relay messages to me (and many more things) but it was completely unexpected that she would be here of all places! "That doesn't matter right now," Hibari said as he got into a fighting stance, looking straight at Mukuro.

"Are you ready?" That seemed to be something along the lines of, "Are you ready to die?" more than just being ready in general but that was somewhat obvious already; after all, this was Hibari that we were talking about, a person that you'd take seriously if he gave you a death threat because he really would try to kill you.

_I would've liked to know what Kyoko's doing but it looks like Hibari isn't going to tell me much... Wait, did Zakuro know of this?_ The more I thought about it, the more curious I was about it. To an angel that could sense Fuuta's location while everyone didn't even know that he was in the room could also know about Kyoko's location, right? "Hey, Zakuro-san," I started without the hesitation that honestly should've been there. "Did you already know about Kyoko-chan?"

"Are you talking about the Illusionist that's been wandering around on the second floor? She's been there for a while, idjit; because of that, I figured that she wasn't going to bother anyone." As Zakuro said, she was definitely not bothering anyone: in fact, getting Hibari here was probably a good thing for everyone except Mukuro.

_Illusionist?_ That word rang in my mind as I tried to understand what he meant by it. _I__n this context, it apparently refers to a person that casts illusions, right? I'm pretty sure that this is not the right use of the word but whatever... Either way, why is Kyoko an Illusionist? Does that mean that she can make illusions like Mukuro over there?_

And so, it came to my mind. _Holy shit, so that's how she did all of that weird stuff!_ It was somewhat pathetic that I had only figured this out now but I didn't really care, there were more important things to do. "As much as I would like to finish you off properly, you are a waste of time now; you will get in the way of Vongola and I," Mukuro said, referring to Tsuna as 'Vongola' like Lanchia which only made me feel somewhat depressed.

After all, getting reminded of the fact that I was partially getting involved with the affairs of the mafia was not good at all! Hibari didn't seem to care about that answer though as he still looked like he was going to fight. "Hmph, are those your last words?" Hibari said while smirking; he definitely did not care about whatever Mukuro was saying.

Maybe he didn't even listen to him? "Kufufu, it looks like you are not willing to step back. Well, this was expected of you... It seems like I have no choice." As the kanji in his eye changed to 1, I could already tell that he was going to make an illusion of sorts. "Although you had the intruder to help you before, you are out of luck now."

What appeared were (predictably) cherry blossoms, temporarily incapacitating Hibari as expected. "Cherry blossoms?" Tsuna questioned in confusing probably due to the fact that no one would ever find cherry blossoms to be deadly; unfortunately, cherry blossoms became Hibari's kryptonite and that reference wasn't even interesting. "Wait, Hibari-san?! What happened?!"

Tsuna had finally noticed that Hibari was on his knees and seemed pretty panicked because of that; I wouldn't blame him, Hibari was seemingly his only protection and said protection happened to be weak against cherry blossoms. "It's the Sakura-kura disease: Hibari probably got it from one of Shamal's mosquitos," Reborn explained as he apparently knew all about this.

Actually, it was more stupid of me to even think that Reborn didn't know about any of it since he knows everything. "Huh?! Why would he do such a thing?!" Even though he asked that, he immediately gave a blank look afterwards, almost as if he figured it out but didn't feel like saying it.

"Either way, it doesn't look like Hibari'll be able to fight with that illusion and that can only mean one thing: you gotta do it, Tsuna!" It seemed like Reborn was betting on Tsuna yet again, but it was already proven that Tsuna was incapable of beating anything without getting shot in the face which was already pitiful to begin with.

Mukuro watched with amusement, not even giving attention to Hibari anymore. _I'd feel sorry for him if he hadn't bitten me to death at that one time when I met Tsuna and the others._ "You seem to put quite the trust on the Tenth of Vongola, how admirable. I wonder on how long that will last." Mukuro almost seemed like he was taunting Reborn, an idea that one wouldn't really think of due to the fact that he was apparently a wise combat pro.

"He will beat you... but he might get some help on the way," Reborn said as he smirked, his words only making me think of Hibari. _Yeah, that's some help right there, he can't even do anything! I guess some super heroes get these issues?_ Well, some super heroes had sidekicks so maybe Hibari was in need of one.

Not that he would ever get one, at least from what I could gather of his personality; besides, who would ever want to be Hibari's sidekick? That could only be someone masochistic enough to enjoy getting bitten to death! "Oh?" Mukuro seemed intrigued by Reborn's words even though he was supposed to not want to waste any time in killing Tsuna; could it be that he was underestimating him?

Honestly, I wouldn't even be surprised with that.

Suddenly, a nervous yet familiar chuckle was heard from the direction of the door, making me turn around immediately in surprise. It couldn't be...

_Yamamoto?!_ The fact that he was still standing was almost too weird for me to process. Did he ever get shot in the head without me noticing it?

"Huh, Yamamoto?! Are you alright?! Weren't you knocked out because of Lanchia-san...?" The thought of that immediately saddened (or worried) Tsuna, making the question drag a bit.

But he did raise a good point: how in the hell was he standing right now?_ Well, Tsuna did survive getting crushed by a steel ball and Yamamoto's his friend so there's a relation here? But Tsuna was in that weird Dying Will thing while Yamamoto kind of... pulled through on his own._

Was I supposed to be in awe of his endurance of extreme situations or confused by its possibility of it ever working for me? "Oh, that? I guess that spare baseball bat absorbed most of that damage," Yamamoto said in a careless way as I assumed that he really didn't know what he was talking about and ended the sentence in yet a another somewhat nervous yet cheerful chuckle, probably reminding himself of what had happened back there. "By the way, I'm sorry for that, kid."

Was he apologizing for the baseball bat? There was definitely no need for that; maybe the fight with Lanchia had been weighing on him more than I'd thought? If so, I could admire Yamamoto's capability to give a cheerful smile even in this situation. "Don't worry about that; there are more of them in Tsuna's closet than you could ever count."

... Was he serious? "What?! Don't stash random things in my closet!" Or Reborn was actually serious or Tsuna was taking him too seriously... I couldn't help but think that it wasn't the latter option, greatly breaking the mood of the serious situation that we were supposed to be in.

Speaking of that, Mukuro was quite courteous to wait for everyone to talk before doing anything; I guess opportunities were non-existent here. "Kufufu... Are you planning on being in my way as well? Seeing as you have already lost against my double and former superior," the fact that this suggested that Mukuro didn't even consider him as someone close even after so many years together (or so I assume) was pretty sad, I had to admit that, "I doubt that you would have any chances of winning against me."

"Then you're Mukuro Rokudo?" _Wow, that was a quick assumption; I wasn't expecting him to figure it out._ Maybe I underestimated his intelligence? "I don't really know about my chances of winning and all but I do know one thing: my friends are in trouble right now so I've got to do something about it! No matter what role-playing game this is, we'll win for sure!"

_Role... play...?_ My hopes of ever considering Yamamoto to be of normal intelligence had faded away, just like Kyoko's illusions. "Ah, he still thinks it's all a game..." I could hear Tsuna mutter that, looking and sounding somewhat hopeless. _Wait wait _wait,_ so Yamamoto thinks that all of this, all of the mafia stuff, all of the stuff happening in Kokuyo too, all of that, a game...?!_

_Aaaah, a carefree life must be so nice, especially when you're that dense..._

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**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Damn it, the chapter ends here! Unfortunately, I will only upload this one when I am absolutely sure that I can pull off Yamamoto vs. Mukuro properly or I might get fucked over. Either way, you were definitely not expecting Yamamoto to show up, were you?

Didn't I mention that I was gonna give some nice Tsuna vs. Mukuro fight before? Well... expect a bit of other things until Tsuna gets those damned mittens.

Like, I have no choice since Tsuna is can't fight so I can't make him do anything more than fail at whips which aren't even his weapon to begin with. In other words, he's freaking useless! Don't worry though, the rebuke bullet time will be epic in many ways, especially if you already know of what I have done to him.

Either way, look forward to Yamamoto vs. Mukuro?


	41. Chapter 38

**First Words:**

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**L's Cappuccino - Oh you :3 (Edit: Damn it, now I feel like an idiot since the original heart sign I made didn't show up T_T)  
**

Hey, remember Chapter 25? You know, the longest chapter of this story? Welp, it just got topped by this one! Knowing that, I can only say, "How did this happen...?" Like, I know that I took over a month to write this but I didn't know that I made it so long! But then again, I guess this was necessary since I wanted _actual stuff_ to happen in this Chapter: you see, I want to finish this Arc so I'm gonna try my best to stop writing pointless stuff.

Speaking of pointless stuff... This Chapter just made the previous Chapter out to be pointless so I'm basically contradicting myself ^^' I guess this is what happens when I suck at planning stuff? As I said in my profile: "I'd be the worst Director ever." But since this Chapter has a lot of my effort and love in it, I'm gonna put it up and write from there so yeah, it stays!

Stick fighting - martial arts that use staffs, canes, batons and basically all sorts of wooden, stick-like things (I know, I suck at explainations).

**Fun facts:**

**\- If you're wondering: no, the Funeral Wreaths can't read thoughts or do any of the stuff that Byakuran can do. Ironically, they don't even have wings either even though they're supposedly (as far as Observer-chan knows) angels;**

**\- Reasons for Yamamoto's weapon choice: it looked the most like a baseball bat (as different from it as it is) and it reminded him of fantasy RPGs from the way he held it, kind of like a weird sword (even though it looked nothing like one). If Observer-chan knew of this reasoning, she would probably freak out more than she already did.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 38: How to bite convenient opportunities to death**

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"Kufufufu, if this is truly your support then I pity you, Vongola." This guy definitely wanted to laugh out loud, I could feel it. Honestly, if I was in his position, I would've totally laughed at that; I mean, who would try to beat me while having no awareness of just how dangerous the situation is? I could also see Tsuna's face sinking in despair, probably thinking the same thing that everyone was. "Either way, I only have to take care of him so that we may continue on without anyone in our way."

I watched as Mukuro's eye kanji (I think I'm sick of saying that) turned from 3 to 4 which, as I recalled, meant that he would have a flame on his eye and that somehow gave him powers or whatever. _Yamamoto..._ Since he had lost against Lanchia, no one was confident that he'd win but we also knew that convincing him would be kind of pointless.

With that, I couldn't help but get worried; even though I had freaking angels at my disposal, they did nothing to help out! For now, I could only hope to figure something out so that he wouldn't get hurt although I didn't really feel confident about that. _Can't I really get Zakuro to help me? He has to move if I do but I remember that he didn't get to me when I went in between Tsuna and Fuuta because he didn't react on time: this probably means that my Holy Protection isn't flawless and getting in the middle of Mukuro and Yamamoto could get me hurt._

_Now would definitely be the perfect time for a miracle, you know!_ I thought as if speaking to His Divine Presence yet I knew that I was going to get no answer as He resided in Heaven. Now that I thought about it, He never did mention anything similar to miracles; besides, if He was so powerful why did He have to use his angels instead of His Holy Powers to protect me? Couldn't He have just made sure that I wouldn't die by Himself?

There were many questions about His motives but now was not the time to think about them. "I'm ready anytime," Yamamoto said while looking determined, yet somehow keeping a grin on his face._ Don't encourage him to kick your ass, you're gonna lose!_ I glanced at Zakuro who in turn glanced at me as if knowing what I was thinking: judging by his not-so-happy expression, there was no way that he agreed with any of my thoughts. _Damned angels..._

...The fact that we basically had a conversation only by glancing at each other was definitely creeping me out. "Kufufu, we'll see if you can say that after this!" I adverted my gaze from Zakuro and started focusing on Mukuro and Yamamoto, as Mukuro was charging elegantly (I really don't feel like saying that but it's the truth) yet again, wielding his trident.

Getting a bit more serious, Yamamoto ducked as Mukuro got close and rushed away. "Phew... That was close." Standing up, Yamamoto scratched his head in innocence, almost as if dismissing the fact that he had just dodged an attack from Mukuro Rokudo which Tsuna had failed to do. "I can't do much against a trident with my bare hands..." Going back to a slightly non-serious mode, he looked around with thoughtful face.

When he located the whip he started staring at it, almost as if processing if it would be good enough to wield. "This is pretty bad," Yamamoto remarked as he laughed, although it didn't really carry any happy tone; if anything, it was more out of carelessness. When he turned to Mukuro, said heterochromatic person that was about as old as Hibari (?) was already dangerously close to him, pretty much ready to attack.

"Yamamoto!" Before I could shout his name in a dramatic manner (It's instinct!), Tsuna was already doing it for me as I noticed that Zakuro's expression became slightly more annoyed. Could it be that said shouts were that loud? _Why did I notice that so fast though?_

I decided to dismiss that thought as I reluctantly looked at what had happened to Yamamoto. "How long will you keep on dodging? That only proves that your chances of winning are that low." Mukuro's patience didn't seem to be lasting long which was (unfortunately) comprehensible: too much time was wasted in this room.

I would check my phone to see exactly how much time I wasted in Kokuyo but this was too much of a bad situation to even bother doing that. "I know. I'd counter if I had something to fight with..." Even though he was saying that, he sounded more sheepish than anything, keeping a smile of the same nature. Yamamoto looked behind him which made me notice one thing:

Hibari was right behind him. He wasn't unconscious or anything but he was pretty much lying on the floor against his will due to the cherry blossoms in the area. He had a tonfa in his hand while another one was out of reach by a very short distance; he probably let go of it by accident and couldn't grab it back. "I could use this," Yamamoto said as he picked up the aforementioned tonfa from the floor.

What resulted from this was everyone having to see said weapon held wrong... painfully wrong: he was holding it by the opposite end, treating the actual handle as the part that did any damage. Anyone would facepalm with this but I was too busy thinking about Hibari and the fact that if the cherry blossoms were to disappear, he would undoubtedly bite Yamamoto to death. _Is he out of his mind? Who'd take Hibari's weapon of all people?!_

"...Give it back," Hibari actually spoke, sounding threatening for someone that couldn't even move. If anything, that only proved the fact that he would seriously bite everything to death if he was able to stand. I also had a feeling that he'd start with Yamamoto first so he'd get his weapon back...

_How in the hell did Yamamoto not think of this?!_ But then again, I wasn't particularly surprised with that: Yamamoto didn't really seem like the kind of person that thinks, as harsh as that sounded (no offense). "Don't worry, I'll give it right back after- Whoa!" In pure instinctive reflex, Yamamoto blocked the trident with the tonfa, taking advantage of its perpendicular handle to get the trident stuck between the two 'ends' (although they were supposed to be the opposite of the actual end of the tonfa but whatever).

I had a feeling that Yamamoto was going to say something that I would easily retort in my mind so in a way, I was somewhat glad that Mukuro decided to attack at that precise moment; besides, it was smart of him to do such a thing seeing as Yamamoto had his guard down. A cheerful grin (that he was going to waste on Hibari of all people) that had emerged before had faded into surprise and after actually processing what he had done, Yamamoto looked visibly relieved from having guarded that attack.

Was it just me or he had better luck than me without possessing any Holy Protection? "Hmph," Reborn grunted in approval seeing as he was smirking while seeing Yamamoto's completely wrong way of wielding that tonfa as if it were something to take pride in. _Well, I guess I'd be proud of someone that can get away from attacks as well as him, I had to get my freaking arm hurt!_

"You have good reflexes for someone who does not even know how to wield a weapon properly; I will at least give you that. But that is not enough to defeat me, as I've gone through all Six Paths of Reincarnation!" Mukuro's eye kanji (...) changed from 4 to 3 as I almost curled up in a ball so as to not see what was going to come only for me to feel too guilty to do so, deciding to simply hug my legs in an attempt to calm down.

_Besides, I still have my Holy Protection, I'm pretty sure he can fend off snakes._ Speaking (or thinking) of Zakuro, said angel was noticing my actions, giving a perplexed look. "What the hell are you doing, idjit?" For angels in Heaven, it was quite surprising that they didn't possess that much knowledge on everything except general information on things.

Well, not that anything about the mafia was 'general information' but since they came from Heaven, they should be at least kind of all-knowing! "Snakes?! Why are there snakes all of a sudden?! Is this an illusion?!" With Tsuna's reaction, I buried my face between my knees to not look at what was happening as I didn't want to scream again, even though I could be helping them out by telling them that it wasn't an illusion at all.

"An illusion?" Yamamoto questioned in curiosity, seemingly unsure of why the topic of illusions was being brought up in the first place. "So the snakes are not real?" I guess that conclusion was hard to process for him but it didn't matter since it was wrong!

Not being able to tolerate cowering on my own, I slowly raised my head from where it rested before and looked, albeit hesitantly, at what was happening to Yamamoto. "Oh but they are real for they come from another one of my skills: the Realm of the Beast." 'What, you summon snakes from your freaking eyes?!' Whatever sense that made, it didn't really matter as this was a pretty bad situation (another understatement).

"Real snakes?!" Tsuna backed away from the snakes even though their target was clearly Yamamoto; after all, he was the one that was trying to fend them off with his unconventional weapon (unconventional due to the way that he uses it). Although he was succeeding, it didn't mean that he was able to kill them and the fact that Mukuro was probably going to take advantage of the situation to strike (?) only made this seem more and more hopeless.

_... I wish Zakuro would kill those snakes,_ I thought in resignation of knowing that it probably wouldn't happen as I stared at Zakuro, who seemed to be looking at the battle with Yamamoto and Mukuro as if he wanted to join in; considering that the angels in Heaven have a strange love for fighting, I wasn't really surprised with that. _If he's supposed to protect me then why did Byakuran restrict him with so many orders?_

Another stab unconventionally blocked by Yamamoto snapped me out of those thoughts as he looked somewhat distressed, watching out for the snakes more than anything. "Kufufu, what are you looking at, your opponent is right here," Mukuro taunted as he pulled the trident out (as the two ends of the tonfa kind of trapped it there) to subsequently swing his trident almost like a staff (used in stick fighting), a strange way to attack with a stabbing weapon; could he have developed a style of his own that expanded beyond a trident's normal capabilities?

_... I should really just tell my father that I'm not interested in weapons since this is sticking on me._ That strike was blocked but it was quickly followed by another one and another one as Yamamoto was pushed back slightly from trying to block them all, not even being able to use the two ends (ugh, even though they're not supposed to be the ends of the weapon...) instead to buy more time. "Kufufufu, although you are currently keeping up with me, you seem to be forgetting something. Look around you, those snakes are quite dangerous; or maybe you can't even look as it would mean letting your guard down on me?"

Mukuro was thoroughly smirking at the hopeless situation that he had put Yamamoto in, seeing as there was a snake right behind Yamamoto, completely ready to bite his ankle. _Those snakes are poisonous, aren't they?_ I thought in alarm at the fact that if he was bitten once, he could die. "Look out, Yamamoto!" As always, Tsuna seemed to be ahead of me at warning things, making my attempts at warning him unnecessary.

... Fortunately, the snake wasn't the only thing behind Yamamoto. "I told you... to give it back..." Hibari happened to be behind the snake which was going to bite Yamamoto if Hibari hadn't forcefully pushed it aside (or just hit the snake with that much force) with the arm that had a strong grip on his remaining tonfa. He was glaring at both Mukuro and Yamamoto, struggling to stand up.

For now, he was using his other arm as support while getting his legs into a kneeling position although that didn't seem to be working out that well. _Damn, those cherry blossoms are really effective and they're not even real-_ I cut off my own thoughts as I actually processed this: the cherry blossoms were illusions, and illusions could be dispelled (somewhat) easily. In other words:

_I am SO fucking stupid!_ Having realized the complete waste of time and the fact that this could be fixed, I refrained from slapping myself in the face and smirked in victory: there was no way that Mukuro could take on both Hibari and Yamamoto at the same time! "Oh, what's got you so excited, idjit? Finally got through that snake phobia?" _So he noticed..._ Zakuro snickered as I glared at him for a split second before focusing on what I was supposed to do.

"Hibari-san! Those cherry blossoms aren't real, you can stand if you want! They're just an illusion!" I shouted at him as he started to look at me instead, almost as if trying to see if I was saying the truth or not. _Hey, just because I lied to you once doesn't mean that I'm lying to you now!_ Both Mukuro and Yamamoto were also looking at me, one losing his smirk and the other in surprise before having to dodge a snake.

Meanwhile, cherry blossoms were slowly fading away, making it easier for Hibari to stand up albeit slowly. "I see... So that was why there were no cherry blossoms in the other room." It seemed like he was talking the site of the HFW I but I wasn't sure of that as I wasn't there all the way when Hibari was fighting Mukuro. Had he also been stopped by an illusion of cherry blossoms at the time?

He also seemed to be suggesting that he checked out that room before coming to this one; so Hibari was just searching randomly all this time? "Well well, I see that I will have to face two opponents instead of one: am I supposed to be at a disadvantage according to this plan of yours?" _Cut the bullshit, you can't beat them both... right?_ He still wasn't smirking though, could that be a sign of bullshit?

I refrained from answering (since that was directed at me) which was a good decision considering that Yamamoto was probably going to cut me off, "I guess you'll help me out?" Yamamoto offered with a grin, feeling more confident with the fact that Hibari of all people would be fighting with him. I mean, anyone would think that in this situation and said super hero was already taking care of some of the snakes for him.

"Who said that you'd join in?" As Hibari said that, he hit Yamamoto hard with his only tonfa, doing pretty much what he had been doing with the snakes but to a person and with much more power put into it. A, "Waah!" of both shock and pain resounded in the room and from the surprise of the attack, Yamamoto let go of the tonfa and fell to the side, being a fair distance away from his original position.

Tsuna's face was as white as paper from this sight, Reborn was pretty much the same, Zakuro was close to laughing and I was... **"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"**

Well, that sentence was enough to summarize what I thought of this. "Whoever gets in my way will be bitten to death." That was his only answer, suggesting that Yamamoto was 'in his way' rather than being helpful backup to him. _So all of my efforts were for nothing?_

Hibari picked up the tonfa from the floor and got ready for battle, smirking at what I assumed to be the prospect of Mukuro getting bitten to death (if he could do it alone in the first place).

_Why do I even assume that anything will go right in this situation...? _Seeking pity from whoever was closest to me, I gave Zakuro a very depressed look as he 'answered' with a shrug even though he was smirking, almost as if saying, "Deal with it because I'm not gonna help you out, idjit." I stared blankly in response, having already expected an answer like this and not liking it one bit.

**. . .**

... I turned away assertively with the intention of this kind of thing never happening again, focusing on what was ahead of me.

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**Author's Notes:**

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Damn, this chapter took a long time to write! And I know why, it had a lot of stuff in it and a lot of planning... which somehow makes me slower at writing chapters (whut). Anyway, this chapter is one of the chapters that makes me realize how much I really suck at English: the thesaurus was used far too many times for what I needed, not to mention the frequent dictionary searches just to make sure I wasn't misusing words.

Because of this, I kind of suck at writing action scenes: it's not like I don't have them planned out in my head or that I don't know how stuff will be done, I just don't have enough vocabulary! Back to the topic of this chapter, I'd say that I like Yamamoto so I really do not want to fuck up his characterization; this is also applied to Mukuro and basically every character present but you get the idea.

I kind of felt like Yamamoto should've talked more or been slightly more cheerful, or maybe he was being too cheerful or maybe he was thinking about things too much... I'm kind of nervous about him. Oh yeah, and Mukuro, oh Mukuro! I'm so sorry, I'll make it up to you, Mukuro, I promise! I feel like I should make him stronger so I'm always kind of on edge whenever I make Mukuro lose; since he was able to kick Mammon's ass so easily in the Varia Arc, I just think that he has the same power in here but he got his ass kicked by Tsuna so...

LOL Hibari was pretty cool though: "Who said you'd join in? *pwns Yamamoto*" XD . At first I was actually planning for a Yamamoto and Hibari vs. Mukuro battle but when you really think about it, you realize that Hibari would never go along with that because of pretty much his whole personality: it just wouldn't work. So sorry Yamamoto, get shafted while Mukuro vs. Hibari actually happens.

... You can definitely tell that I don't plan ahead from the direction of these chapters, can't you? Just look forward to the next chapter please ;_;


	42. Chapter 38,5

**First Words:**

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_**Be sure to not skip chapter 38 ^^**  
_

LOL This is more of an outtake than it is an omake, really: the ending of Chapter 46 was supposed to continue on but then I realized on how unnecessary that was and decided to make this an omake instead. So yes: this was supposed to happen (kinda) unlike omake 2 and omake 3.

By the way, what would you call this chapter if omakes had titles? I don't know, but I have a feeling that it would be a very strange title XD

**Fun facts:**

**\- Unlike what Observer-chan was thinking, Zakuro did not notice this at all; he just kind of went along with it for shits and giggles. So yeah, Observer-chan just seriously over-thought the situation;**

**\- Tsuna was actually watching this happen due to Observer-chan being loud enough to get his attention: saying that he was at least somewhat perplexed by what was happening would be a huge understatement.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 38.5: Omake 4**

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... I turned away assertively with the intention of this kind of thing never happening again, focusing on what was ahead of me. "Y-You know, we should talk more."

"Huh?!" I could hear the confusion and the underlying, "If you're not even joking then fuck no!" in that without even looking at him; it was that obvious. Not being completely aware as to why that was, I thought about what I just said; my reaction was only one: _What?!_

With this misunderstanding, I went from being embarrassed for my word choices to being mad about the fact that this even happened in the first place, blaming both myself and (partially) Zakuro. "That's not what I meant, okay?! I meant that we should stop with this 'glancing' thing."

"Idjit, what are you even talking about?" I sighed, figuring that explaining it to him would be almost impossible. _Wait, he didn't notice? Nah, it's probably because of the way I said it..._

I got over my stubbornness and decided to actually look at him as I spoke, knowing that nothing strange would result from it. "Like, we just look at each other and we automatically know what we're thinking, that thing."

Just explaining it was somewhat embarrassing as it was something that you wouldn't really explain in a daily basis; besides, this was probably the most I've spoken (in a normal tone) in a while and that didn't make it any better. "Does it even matter, idjit?"

"Ugh, just... Compromise for a bit, okay?" I proposed in resignation, not wanting to say anything more as it would only make me more pissed off.

Well, not that I wouldn't be more pissed off anyway since things never really seemed to go that well for me. "You're the only one that actually cares, idjit: maybe if you'd stop looking at me so much without saying a word this wouldn't happen," he said with a smirk almost as if teasing me, suggesting that I looked at him a lot for no reason.

_... I don't, right?_ "Shut up, that's not true!" I protested in an attempt to drive stupid thoughts out of my head and boost my confidence. "You know what, forget it, I don't even care anymore, just do whatever you want." Realizing that it would be pointless to continue this conversation, I tried to leave it behind altogether as I turned away from Zakuro: this time, I would _actually_ focus!

"That's what I was planning to do in the first place, idjit." I resisted the urge to glare at him as I just knew that he was totally looking smug, kind of like my mother whenever she won arguments.

_Damned angels..._ I never thought that the day where I curse what were supposed to be Holy fictional beings would ever come, but it did and it would probably continue as long as His Divine Presence existed.

But then again, His Divine Presence was also a supposedly fictional (or supposedly real?) Holy Being (Deity) and I cursed him more than once...

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**Author's Notes:**

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For the record, I don't ship this at all: Observer-chan is _13 years old!_ If anything I ship friendship but judging from the Future Arc, that's probably not gonna work out lol.

Honestly, this scene just kind of happened naturally from that joke in Chapter 38 in which Observer-chan really does pay a lot of attention to Zakuro's reactions and he's to her side so for her to really tell what the hell he's doing, she'd always have to look to the side and (at least) I wouldn't deliberatly look to the side to see how he's doing!

Also, Observer-chan really does mention Byakuran a lot, doesn't she? Since I never really have a plan to what I write, it's really just me automatically writing according to what she'd do; I guess Byakuran's in her thoughts a lot but that's probably because he's freaking God and all that...

Speaking of Observer-chan, I happened to write a lot of... strange things (*insert suggestive comment here*) with Observer-chan and all KHR characters that I could think of as a writing exercise and with that I pretty much confirmed that Observer-chan really is the type to get flustered or embarrassed easily. I think this was nicely demonstrated here, making me happy that more of her personality was shown.

I also find it kind of hilarious that all of this happened while they were in a very serious situation: "Hibari is gonna fight Mukuro, guys! They're right over there!" Nope, I need to address the recent joke of Observer-chan's strange comprehension of Zakuro's thoughts (and vice versa)! Maybe that's why I made this into an omake instead ^^'


	43. Chapter 39

**First Words:**

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**L's Cappuccino - Yes, pretty much that although Yamamoto was also in the way of Hibari's fight with Mukuro so it's even worse ^^' Honestly, Hibari's antisocial... -ness is what makes him hilarious since he really gives no fucks about anyone; he likes animals though so that automatically makes him slightly more decent.**

**Oh, the Future Arc... I think the fact that Byakuran is _freaking God_ can pretty much tell you that it will be seriously messed up, at least cannon-wise. I mean, it would be really difficult to keep that cannon and making sense, so I think I'll be following it more loosely in the Future Arc than for example, this arc. Despite that, I'm pretty sure that the Future Arc will be the most serious out of them; in contrast, the Varia Arc will be the silliest of them all for sure XD To answer your question though, I'll tell you that she is not included but she won't go to such extremes (lol tackling Shoichi) since she probably won't be aware of that situation. Even so, she will go to the Future: How would she do that? Or why would there be a need for her to do so anyway? And for what reason wouldn't she be included with everyone? The answers are all spoilers (;D) although the first question could be guessed (somewhat) easily.**

This got another favourite and a follower, hell yeah! 8D

By the way, do you remember when I told you that the previous chapter was the longest now? Because lol forget that, this one is the longest; I can see a pattern here... I can guess that the chapters are getting longer because I want to go through this at a faster pace and so I'll probably just put a lot of stuff in one chapter. Anyway, this chapter has finally made me get to the landmark that is the plans that I've been having about this fight ever since chapter... 30-something. That means that I'll probably know exactly what I'm doing in the next chapter since it's planned instead of these chapters that were pretty much ideas from the top of my head.

And yes, this is all for the First Words because I might get to 4000 words (it got to 4000 words T_T) if I do this any longer ^^'

**Fun facts:**

**\- Although Observer-chan picked up a few things about weapons from her father, she really has no knowledge on guns like pistols and such because her father also has no interest in those, meaning that he also doesn't have much knowledge on them either;**

**\- The one thing that Observer-chan forgot about was the knife; and yes, Reborn did remember everything about it too. In other words, he totally did it on purpose (but gives no fucks anyway).**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 39: Mukuro dies**

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If there was one thing that I could praise Mukuro for in this situation that was probably taking the whole day to be resolved, it would definitely be how he could still look amused after having to waste so much time with pointless stuff; if I were him, I wouldn't take it. But then again, I had neither love for fighting nor any interest for other people's capabilities in battle so that could be a factor in this? Not that I knew if he actually enjoyed such things or not. "Well well, I see you have quite the bloodlust. Unfortunately, I am getting rather impatient, you see; so I will get this over with as quickly as possible."

"Then I'll waste no time in biting you to death either." With that confident statement from our resident super hero, it began.

No, seriously, **_IT_** (Infinite Tedious-ness?) began. A grand exchange of blocks and counters that I have never seen (nor did I ever want to see) between a (finally) perfectly held pair of tonfas and a masterfully elegant trident, both these weapons clearly held by combat experts... who were obviously a super handsome (?) super hero in middle school and a super handsome (?) super villain who was also still in middle school.

**. . .**

Even then, it was majestic! The... _rapid_ motions of these weapons and the sheer force put into every attempt (and failure) to hit one another could be felt in the tense atmosphere of this battle that, in _the most literal way,_ had no clear winner. "Didn't you say anything about getting this over with quickly?" Hibari taunted yet again, a smirk on his face that obviously conveyed victory, even with such equal chances for either of them to be defeated/bitten to death.

"Kufufu, I am barely getting started!" Even with all these confident words thrown in the middle of this... _spectacular_ match, the focus would still lie on the weapons, held still against one another as yet again an attack (of unknown origin) had been blocked.

**. . .**

And after said taunts happen, it returns to its normal abstract beauty, many hues _intertwined_ and _ever moving_ in a velocity yet unknown to Humanity- "Amazing... My eyes can't even keep up with this!"

**. . .**

... I give up. _What the hell is even going on?!_ While Tsuna was in awe of this battle, I could only stare blankly at the blur that was the fight between Hibari and Mukuro since they were simply too fast for me to even see what was going on: as far as I could tell from whenever they stopped moving or constantly trying to hit one another, it was a complete draw. Not only were they barely doing any damage to each other but the amount of times I had to see them always blocking their attacks because they were that evenly matched was uncountable.

"Zakuro-san," I called in a seemingly normal way with the exception of the obvious (slight) monotone that somehow suggested very well that I was not pleased with this situation. "Can you even see what the hell's going on?" I asked, unsure if he really could or not but not really caring anyway since I asked the question for the sake of breaking the really awkward silence that not even Tsuna's strangely well-timed reactions could break.

Well, that wasn't surprising since that awkward silence was only being felt by me, and I was supposed to be quietly looking at the fight in awe of the great abilities of these people: the problem was that I could barely see anything and I could bet that it take far too much time to be settled! And if there was one thing that I _really_ wanted to do right now, that was to go home and for that, this had to end. "Even if I can, it's not worth it, idjit; it's not like I'm going to kill someone anyway. This is such a drag..."

He seemed to have returned to his 'bored to death' state again and by what he said, he probably wanted to fight too. _Or freaking kill someone since that makes me feel so much safer..._ It was definitely more than creepy to have angels suggest that they enjoy killing people, especially when they're supposed to protect you. "I can't say that I disagree with you on that one..." I muttered and sighed right after that, not knowing what to do.

**. . .**

**. . .**

**. . .**

_Aaaah, I can't take this anymore!_ As impatient as I was, I decided that I just had to do something so that Hibari could kick Mukuro's ass, making me go home safely. Unfortunately, good plans for this wouldn't just dawn on me so I started to think... a lot. _Okay, so Yamamoto's out and he has no weapon so he wouldn't be able to help out properly; he's also on the opposite side of Tsuna and I so telling him what to do would be impossible since Hibari and Mukuro are between us._

_Fuuta... is also out and I think he doesn't have the knife with him too... Wait, didn't Tsuna take it or something? Then what the hell is he doing with that shitty whip, **stab Mukuro in the face, damn it!** Well, I guess he wouldn't be able to do it anyway... Besides, even if I take the knife from Tsuna, I would also be unable to do anything with it in this situation; getting too close to them would be really bad and a knife is a short-range weapon. Could it provide a good distraction though?_

_Even if I could be a distraction, I would have to make sure that I would have Zakuro protecting me just in time and that the distraction would mostly work on Mukuro while Hibari would take the chance to kick his ass. If I went there with a knife, I would only end up in a worse situation so I need a ranged weapon so I'm safer while providing the distraction. The only ranged weapon is..._

I shifted my gaze to the thing in Tsuna's hands: that damned whip._ But then again, the whip didn't work because Tsuna sucked with it so maybe it could be put to good use? But I don't know if I can use a whip, much less risk my life with it! Since it's a distraction, could I just swing it around as if I were to attack? I wouldn't be too close to them anyway..._ Slowly but surely, my plan was being formed although it wasn't the safest of plans in a situation like this.

But then again, this wasn't the safest of situations to be in either. "Tsuna-san," I called out albeit in low volume while heading closer to him, as I noticed that he was pretty focused on the fight. He flinched from the surprise of his name being called, his concentration on Hibari and Mukuro breaking as he looked at me with a quizzical expression on his face. "Um, that whip that you've been using... Could you lend it to me for a while? Preferably the knife too."_ You never know when it might be useful in an almost suicidal plan._

"Huh, this?" Tsuna raised the hand that was holding on to the whip but only a little as if to confirm that I was talking about the whip. Well, that was understandable: why would I ever want such a thing? His perplexed look only proved that he was asking that question to himself. "Wait, a knife too?!" Having completely processed my request, he seemed to freak out about the idea of even possessing a knife, making me confused. "Oh, the one that Fuuta had with him?"

_So he forgot..._ Now that I thought about it, a knife would have been useful for Yamamoto when he was fighting Mukuro; unfortunately, it was too late for that now. "What, do you plan on going between them? That's suicidal even with this knife", Reborn warned, taking a knife out from wherever the hell he can hide so many things (probably his fedora but the movement is too fast for me to confirm this). _Wait, that knife...!_

Having realized that Reborn somehow had the knife that I asked for, I was slightly more depressed._ I guess I won't have any more emotional support than Holy Protection..._ "Ah, Reborn, when did you even steal that knife?!" Tsuna also seemed to be surprised at this, confirming that Reborn wasn't supposed to have that knife in the first place.

"It wasn't even yours to begin with," Reborn retorted, waving the knife around as if no one had ever told him to never play with knives. But then again, being the alleged professional assassin that he was, handling that knife was probably nothing to him. "Anyway, if you're going then I'm not stopping you. Besides, you probably have a plan for this; I'm looking forward to it." The fact that he was showing interest in my plans only put more pressure on me and I had a feeling that he was well aware of that. "Give her the whip, Tsuna."

_At least he's being cooperative; I thought that he was gonna keep all the weapons,_ I thought in relief as my plans weren't ruined. If there was one thing that I was noticing, it was the fact that Reborn was very, _very_ unpredictable. Well, everyone in here was somewhat unpredictable due to how weird they were but Reborn was especially unpredictable; could it be because he was that weird? "You don't have to say it like that!" Tsuna protested but went right back to normal as he looked at me in worry; almost as if to cheer me up, he gave a small smile which was wholeheartedly appreciated since I was about to do some seriously risky things.

"Here," Tsuna said as he gave the whip directly to my hands. I looked down at the whip and nodded instinctively, almost as if relieved with the obvious turn of events (since it was part of the plan); when I looked back up though, I could see Tsuna staring straight at me, almost as if seeing through my soul. Yes, it was as strange and embarrassing as it sounded like. "You don't have to do this, you know? After all, you were dragged here even though you didn't have anything to do with this; you don't have to risk yourself for nothing." He said almost as if he knew that I wasn't sure of this plan; however, I had no real intention to not go ahead with it and it seemed like he had that figured out too. "Just... be careful, okay?"

Honestly, his strange kindness only made me sadder instead: would I have done the same thing for him in this situation? Knowing that the answer was not a pretty one, I could only look back down at the whip in my hands and admire Tsuna for such a quality; maybe that was why he had so many friends.

... And really, it only made me glad that I was at least somewhat integrated in that group of friends. I stopped thinking about this as I looked straight at Tsuna with somewhat of a new determination. "Thanks, I appreciate it. I'll probably be fine though... I hope." Even though I had a new determination, it really did not affect my trust for my Holy Protection at all; seeing as he was necessary for this plan, it was a problem to say the least. "Besides, I'm not risking myself for nothing."

_I'd have to be really stupid to risk myself for no reason._ I tried smiling, even though I was pretty nervous; where was that determination again? _Well, at least I probably won't die or anything; they'll most likely just shove me out of the way which results in injuries as serious as Yamamoto's so I'll be okay..._ Those thoughts did not cheer me up at all. As Tsuna smiled back at me, he was suddenly kicked by Reborn. "What did you say that for, No-Good-Tsuna?"

"Ow, why did you need to hit me?!" Deciding that I had to move on with this, I went back to my original spot next to Zakuro as I could see that he was still super bored. From what I was going to do though, he was probably going to be more than pissed off at me than anything.

I fiddled with the whip as I called out, "Zakuro-san!" The way that I said that was almost as if I was trying to wake him up which was really what I was aiming for, but he was not going to be pleased with that either. _But then again, he'll be really pissed off after this so it doesn't really matter._

"What?" He asked, seemingly annoyed by the sudden loud tone of my voice. Ironically, he almost seemed like he had just woken up from a deep sleep, except slightly angrier. The fact that he had no idea on what I was going to ask him was probably another factor into his not-so-happy response. As he was finally in a sitting position again, he looked at me and spotted the whip immediately. "What the hell are you doing with that thing, idjit?"

I didn't say a word and only winked at him, glancing at Mukuro and Hibari who both seemed like they were just about fed up with this obvious draw of a fight. "Idjit, you can't be serious..."

Oh, but _I was,_ and that was thoroughly conveyed by the determined look in my eyes; under that though, I was scared shitless of the outcome of this plan. I got up from the floor and started running, much to Zakuro's dismay. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

_Revenge, bitch!_ Even though I was happy thinking that I finally got him back for the strange fact that we could basically tell what we were thinking without any words, I frowned as I got closer to Mukuro and Hibari. _Didn't I forget anything...?_ I thought but dismissed such a possibility right away as now was not the time for that.

Having now noticed me, Mukuro and Hibari both looked extremely- really bothered by my presence but more than that, they noticed that I was wielding the whip. Although they didn't know of this, I wasn't going to attack at all; if I were to do such a thing, I'd probably fail. Their fast movements became slower and as I passed by them, stopped in my tracks and turned to their direction all in a fast pace so as to prevent any sort of accident.

I swung my whip in the most inexperienced of ways before they could say anything and thinking that I was going to do something, both were pretty much ready to attack. **_"ZAKURO!"_** I shouted out in hopes of him knowing what to do as they closed in on me; by this point, they probably realized that I wasn't going to attack but they wanted to get rid of me anyway.

"I'm already on it, idjit!" He got in front of me so fast that I had a hard time processing the fact that he even moved rather than teleported and suddenly, I could see the abnormally red flames that made Mukuro, the one closest to said flames, back off just in time.

After all, even though I was a fair distance from them, I was closer to Mukuro's side than anything: that wasn't a coincidence. "Hibari-san!" I realized that I forgot to add the appropriate suffix for Zakuro when I called Hibari's name out but mentally shrugged as that was not important at all; if anything, I wondered on how I could think of such irrelevant things in the middle of a dangerous situation.

Hibari, having spotted a distracted Mukuro, took the chance to hit him with both his tonfas in opposite sides, making for a very strong attack that I would not want to ever be hit with. That attack actually connected, almost knocking Mukuro to the floor; Hibari also took advantage of the time that Mukuro would have to take to at least stand up straight and went for an additional hit with only one tonfa except that it was almost like an uppercut, going vertically and upward.

Needless to say that Mukuro was definitely down. "Did... he do it?" Tsuna asked in disbelief. Honestly, it happened so fast to me that even I was just staring at Mukuro to confirm that he did it. Seeing how Mukuro wasn't really moving, I could assume that my plan succeeded, making me smile in victory. "He did it!"_ Hell yeah, I'm finally going home!_

That happiness was short-lived though as Zakuro turned to me, giving me a death glare although he was definitely not going to kill me judging by the fact that he was my Holy Protection. Even so, it was such an intense glare that I stepped back a little so as to not feel so scared by it. "I did fucking tell you that I wasn't helping you out, didn't I? So how dare you use me for this, idjit! And I didn't even get to fight anyone either!"

... I guess now was the time to face the _real_ consequences of my not-so-safe plan. "Uh-" "Hold it, herbivore." Not only was I cut off by the super hero that saved us, I was also insulted by the super hero that saved us at the same time; that was just _wonderful._ "This outcome is all your fault: did you think that I would ever be satisfied with this victory? I didn't need your help," Hibari stated, also glaring at me. "Because of that, I'll have to bite you to death to make up for this."

_Does that even make any sense?!_ Even if it did, I was screwed. _Besides, this super hero is looking like he'll clearly enjoy biting me to death… Is it just me or I now have two very dangerous people that want to kill me right now...?_ Seeing that Zakuro already was in the process of killing me with only his eyes and the fact that Hibari was getting dangerously close to me while brandishing his very, _very_ dangerous tonfas it would be an understatement to say that I was scared shitless.

"This isn't over," Reborn said, making everyone immediately focus on Mukuro, who was sitting on the floor while holding something.

... And that was a gun: a strangely white gun which reminded me of Heaven but a gun nonetheless. "M-Mukuro?!" As always, Tsuna was the first to react, while I could only think:

_If you had a gun all along, why the hell did you not use it?!_ "Hmph, you're still alive?" _Did you really think that he'd die from just that?!_ Even though Hibari was saying things like that, he didn't seem like he was in good shape; from all that he went through here, I wasn't really that surprised.

"Kufufufu, I do wonder on what you are all celebrating about. After all, no one will get out of here alive," Mukuro said as he smirked albeit weakly as he brought the gun right to his head...

_Wait, don't tell me..._ I could only stand in shock, almost as if waiting for him to do it: shouldn't I have been stopping him? Even if I wanted to, I probably couldn't do such a thing. "W-What are you doing...?!" Tsuna could only exclaim that as he seemed just as shocked as I was.

"Don't worry, we shall meet again. _Arrivederci,"_ Mukuro said as I realized that the last word meant 'see you later' in Italian (how I was able to remember that is seriously beyond me), reminding me of the fact that he was supposedly not from this country.

Before I could think about anything related to that though, the sound of a gunshot could be heard throughout the room, completely breaking my train of thoughts as my eyes widened at the sight before me. _He… He really did it..._

_I'm... not being tricked yet again, am I? It just can't happen more than three times, right...? Because if I am being tricked, I will seriously be pissed off..._

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**Author's Notes:**

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_"Even with all these confident words thrown in the middle of this... spectaculous match, (...)" - The Strange Land of Namimori, 2014_

Spectaculous is officially a word now: unfortunately, there will be no omake to celebrate that XD Anyway, I like how she's like: 'I'm not being tricked again, am I?' when she really is being tricked because as you probably know, Mukuro does not die. I remember being surprised when I first saw that part of the episode so I do hope I did it justice.

Speaking of that, I really do believe that I probably didn't do this any justice; I feel the urge to call this 'How to effectively fuck up an action scene' but I can't joke around with the titles ^^' Well, if anything I guess I wasn't particularly disappointed since I was expecting a similar outcome (sort of) but damn, it was a bit too Observer-chan-centered.

I do hope that I'm not making this have too much focus on Observer-chan since I really want to keep focus on everyone else. Honestly, it would be stranger if she didn't get involved in things: her life is in danger (kind of)! One thing that I can guarantee though, it's the fact that the Varia Arc won't have much focus on Observer-chan since she can barely get involved in it.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter...? Wait, wasn't I supposed to be telling you to look forward to the next one...


	44. Chapter 40

**First Words:**

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**L's Cappuccino - XD So if they were in High School they would be fairly average? I guess if applied with anime logic, it makes sense (read: seems legit). Besides, Hibari probably should've graduated from Nami-Middle (but he doesn't want to lol wtf Hibari) so I guess it matches up too; Mukuro is just OP, he has no other justification.**

Anyway, I can only bring up what I said in the last chapter in terms of this one's length: I'm trying to go on a faster pace, making a chapter longer so as to get more things done with. Not that I'm rushing anything or the chapters would never be this long and I wouldn't dare rush this chapter since I've been looking forward to it a lot; I'm just putting more 'meat' on them. I have also failed at my calculations of the ending of the Kokuyo Arc as I can now confidently predict that from what I have planned, this Arc will end in like 3 chapters. Really, you could say that I'm close to the end of episode 25 in terms of 'cannon', even though I'm trying my best to stray from it. To be very honest, I like writing the original parts more than the necessary bits of cannon as they're the weirdest and funniest parts; most of the 'necessary cannon' is exposition that the characters need to know or question so it's really the more technical aspects of the story.

Speaking of original ideas, I left you with quite the cliffhanger in this chapter and I can only hope that you look forward to what happens in the next one because I am sure that you will not at all expect it 8D

Hiieeh - It's pretty much, "Hieee?!" except with different romanization simply because I prefer it; since Tsuna does say it, I'm using it too.

**Fun facts:**

**\- Bianchi and Gokudera actually went to Shamal due to Gokudera's condition: that's why they're so late. Really, you should assume that a lot of time is passing through all of these chapters.**

**\- You must totally be wondering about the ending (of this chapter) so I'll say it: it was all _keikaku doori_ (according to plan lol) for Mukuro... or was it? It was actually a very fast plan to come up with while looking at the site of the Holy Fangirl War I so in a way, Observer-chan helped out (but don't tell her anything or she'll be so depressed ^^').**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 40: In which my reaction time to everything is slower than normal**

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As much as I never thought that I'd say this, everything became quiet at the moment Mukuro shot himself in the head.

Everything just kind of... stopped. Tsuna's relief, Zakuro's death glare, Hibari's movement towards me and Reborn's... Well, Reborn was pretty much the same. _How is that kid so mentally strong anyway?_ Expert assassins were always a mystery, I noted. Even though I could've totally gone home, I was frozen on the spot, unable to even think of such a thing.

The first person to break the ice was Hibari, not by speaking (as expected of him) but by the fact that he was the first to move. He slowly walked over to Mukuro's... corpse and when he got close enough, he crouched down and grabbed the trident, now reduced to a trident head yet again.

For this he also had to put his tonfas somewhere and wherever that was, I didn't want to know as I could only see them being retracted to his sleeves. "Hibari-san...?" Tsuna was the first to speak up, probably finding Hibari's actions to be too weird like I was.

I mean, I would know this kind of stuff, I was the one that stalked Hibari all the way to Kokuyo! Hibari didn't respond (as expected) and only stood up, walking over to Yamamoto who was knocked out yet again.

Getting close to Yamamoto and crouching yet again, he lifted the arm with the trident and... stabbed Yamamoto. _What?_ He didn't stab Yamamoto on any vital part (to my knowledge) but I was far too confused and surprised to even think of that right away.

"What are you doing, Hibari-san?!" Tsuna exclaimed, trying to get him to answer.

Me on the other hand, I was remembering not-so-good memories again...

_"If someone was stabbed with a trident, don't get close to them~!"_

_... Oh no._ I stepped back from the direction that Hibari was at, giving him a wary look. _But why would Hibari do that? This doesn't make sense._ "So that was why he shot himself; there was no way that he'd give up like that, idjit." Zakuro seemed to have realized something that I didn't, making me pissed off at the fact that he wasn't explaining it to me.

_What is he even talking about anyway? If someone shoots themselves on the head, they're dead so how would they not be giving up-_

_Oh my freaking God, he didn't die._ That revelation was so shocking that I even forgot to interrupt myself when saying 'Oh my God'. _That bastard's alive like with those freaking bullets!_ Hibari was up again yet he was somehow not looking straight ahead, gazing at the floor and making his eyes that hard to see.

"That is not of your concern," he stated, slowly raising his head, finally revealing his eyes-

"Waaah!" And those eyes scared the shit out of me. Instead of being just as surprised at the fact that one of Hibari's eyes was red with kanji on it (Gee, who is that from?), everyone looked at me in confusion. _Can't they see?!_

_... This is another one of those 'things that Byakuran lets me see', isn't it?_ "Um, I'm just fine, that was nothing, uh... Go on." _Damn that Byakuran._ Somehow, His Divine Presence could ruin just about anything in any event of my life in Namimori even without being physically present or doing anything beyond giving me Holy Protection. Could that also be called Divine Power?

To my surprise, they did go on without asking me anything although Tsuna looked strangely wary around Hibari after my unwelcome scream. "It does concern me; he's my friend. So please tell me, Hibari-san," Tsuna tried to plead in a calmer manner, probably slightly scared of Hibari too since Hibari could bite him to death at any moment... with Mukuro's weapon.

"... Do you really want to know?" This time, Hibari was smirking, reminding me of a certain corpse. The fact that he had that trident head did not make me feel better at all as I instinctively glanced at Fuuta. "I can tell you if you want."

Something told me that this was not going to end well, and that something was probably right. Tsuna gulped, hesitating on saying what was on his mind.

Suddenly though, I could see that Yamamoto was starting to gain consciousness, opening his now heterochromatic eyes- _What? How- Just what?!_ "Yamamoto!" Tsuna exclaimed in relief. "You're alright?!"

_Sure he is, especially when his eyes have become so much prettier now,_ I thought in sarcasm while not being able to process this situation completely; how I was able to be sarcastic while not knowing the situation was beyond me. "Of course I am, this is nothing!" Somehow, I could tell that the cheerful tone in his voice was somewhat different from Yamamoto's usual tone, scaring me further.

"Zakuro-san," I called as he was the only person that could give me explanations. "What the _hell_ is going on here?" As I asked that, I noticed that Tsuna's expression went from relieved to wary again quickly even though it seemed like he couldn't see the red eyes in both Hibari and Yamamoto; then how could he tell?

Was it just intuition? "Idjit, didn't Byakuran-sama warn you about this? They're possessed," Zakuro answered but that answer only made me stare at him blankly. _I can understand that much, damn it!_ "Then what the hell are you even asking about, idjit?!" _Don't read my thoughts either!_ I somewhat doubted that Holy Protection had the same powers as His Divine Presence but with these kinds of conversations, I could never be too sure.

_Okay, they're both possessed... But how could they both be possessed? It's not like Mukuro can possess two people, if he can even possess anything at all- Oh what am I saying, it's totally Mukuro! He had six skills, right?_ I could only guess that possession was one of them and that it probably cost his life (kind of). "Is something wrong, Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked while looking worried as he was walking towards Tsuna; in turn, this made me notice the fact that Hibari was also getting closer and closer to Tsuna, somewhat concerning me.

Said (apparent) future mafia boss gulped, also noticing all of this and finding himself unable to give out a proper answer without sounding very nervous. "Y-Yeah... I'm fine, but..." He didn't continue his sentence as he was seeing how dangerously close Hibari was getting to him, especially with that trident in his hand.

On the other hand, I happened to still be close to Mukuro's corpse (?) with Zakuro near me so I was definitely in no danger. Unfortunately, Tsuna did not know about the fact that they were both somehow possessed- _Wait wait wait! Why in the hell have I not told them about this yet, am I stupid?!_

"Watch out, Tsuna! Hibari and Yamamoto are possessed!" I screamed out right at the moment that Hibari was lunging at him with that trident head, making Tsuna be able to dodge just in time. Even so, he looked shocked beyond belief, making me assume that he was able to dodge that instinctively.

Yamamoto turned to look at me, giving a smirk that I never thought I'd see on Yamamoto's face. "Kufufufu," _Yup, this is Mukuro alright,_ "How many times must you get in the way, I wonder? But this is quite interesting; you were the first one to ever notice this skill of mine so fast. I can definitely see why you are heavily protected." _Damn it, now people think that I'm important when this is all Byakuran's doing!_

"Mukuro! So it _was_ you...!" Tsuna exclaimed while looking at Yamamoto instead of Hibari.

... Bad move. "Waaah!" He almost jumped back from the floor in an attempt to dodge Hibari and that attempt had succeeded, relieving me greatly. _It's not like Tsuna has Holy Protection or anything of the sort; Reborn doesn't look like he'll do anything either,_ As I thought about that, I looked at Reborn to see that he looked somewhat wary, yet still as calm as always.

"Don't let your guard down around him, Tsuna; he's coming for you," Reborn warned him, mentioning the fact that Tsuna was Mukuro's target yet again almost as if to make sure that he didn't forget that. _Oh yeah, didn't Reborn say something about being Tsuna's home tutor or something like that?_

_... I can buy that now._ "Indeed. Although I would like to unravel the mystery of this girl's identity, I have yet to take care of my main priority: Tsunayoshi Sawada, I will have your body." Yamamoto seemed to be the one doing the talking, much to my dismay; having to hear Yamamoto's voice utter such words would almost sting. _He won't believe me even if I tell him that I'm nothing special, will he...? Ugh..._

But then I processed the last part of his sentence and while trying to avoid the dark side of my mind, I tried my best to not freak out: _His body, what does he want with Tsuna's body? Better yet, why or how would he get it? Maybe he wants to do n- Shut up shut up shut up! Think with logic, damn it! Yamamoto got stabbed with a trident; Byakuran told me to not get close to people that got stabbed with tridents and just when Yamamoto was stabbed, he got possessed by Mukuro who can somehow possess more than one person at the same time..._

_He wants to possess Tsuna!_ The fact that I only got to such a conclusion now was definitely something that I was not proud of. _But why does he- I'm so stupid, of course he'd want to possess the body of the future boss of a (presumably very strong) mafia family!_ "My body?!" Judging by Tsuna's reaction, I could confidently say that we were both on the same page.

"Hmph, there's no mistaking it. Even though you made it look like suicide, you shot yourself with the Possession Bullet, didn't you? The use of those bullets is forbidden; where did you get them from?" I never thought that I would ever say this but the baby with a shiny green slimy thing (that I damned hoped to never touch) on his back while wearing a fedora sounded very scary, almost threatening while asking those questions like how he was when he was asking me about Bluebell but worse.

Mukuro (or Hibari... and Yamamoto) didn't seem at all fazed by Reborn though, as both Hibari and Yamamoto were smirking. "Let's just say... that they're mine and leave it at that," he answered although his answer had almost nothing to do with the actual question(s). He seemed somewhat thoughtful when he had made that pause though, but he continued to smirk nonetheless: would you really need to give much thought to such a vague answer?

_Still, Possession Bullets? It's the Dying Will Bullet thing all over again...! Seriously, can't they choose other methods to transmit whatever special thing they made up? Like, I don't know, pills or something? I wish I could actually know whether they're actually being shot or getting a power-up!_ Seriously, what if someone actually pulls out a gun with normal bullets and tries to shoot everyone? We'd just confuse it for Dying Will Bullets and not even realize that we'd die!

"Possession Bullets?! You mean there's more than just the Dying Will Bullets?!" Although Tsuna sounded really surprised, it was very easy to tell that he was more worried (and maybe fearful) of the fact that there were other types of strange bullets that don't kill than anything, not that I didn't understand his feelings on that.

Now if only there were Wound-Inducing Bullets... Oh wait.

(Terrible) Jokes aside, there are a few things that the Possession Bullet doesn't justify like how the trident is necessary to possess people and the fact that Mukuro can somehow possess more than one person at once. "That trident is what makes Mukuro possess people, don't get stabbed by it!" Even so, I decided to warn Tsuna about the trident anyway as applying logic to many of the events that occurred in this place was impossible.

"What?!" Tsuna (understandably) could only react like that with said warning, seeing as Hibari happened to not only be in arm's range of Tsuna but he was also the one with the trident head; Yamamoto was only somewhat close, watching the whole area with a smirk. "Hiii!" This panicked sound came from Tsuna as Hibari had attempted to stab him again as he miraculously didn't get hit.

Right after that dodge Tsuna backed away from Hibari in fear, making the smirk on Hibari's face look all the more scary for me. "You reduce that act to such insignificant words," Mukuro remarked as Hibari, surprising me since Yamamoto had been doing most of the talking. The fact that he turned to me in order to say that (as that comment was a response to the warning I gave to Tsuna) while still smirking and with that trident on his hand, _especially_ with the trident on his hand only got me to move slightly closer to Zakuro, just in case. "I prefer to call it a 'contract'." _What kind of mutual agreement is that, I wonder?!_

"Contract?! You shouldn't do that with someone like me, nothing good would ever come out of it!" Tsuna exclaimed as if he was the prey shouting at the predator about how he would never be good to eat; as with those situations, this would probably not work either. _If negotiation worked with this person, I would've been out of Kokuyo a long time ago..._ But then again, wasn't I persuaded by Reborn to stay here? _Damn that Reborn..._

To be fair, I would probably resort to such tactics as well in that situation, making me not think of Tsuna in such a pitiful light. _Didn't I try to do that with Mukuro while the Fangirl War thing was going on?_ Reminding myself of such memories was something that I did not feel like doing so I decided to push that aside and focus on what was going on. "Kufufu, you don't have to worry, I assure you that your body has many uses or there would be no point to wasting this much effort on your pitiful existence."

_Ouch..._ One thing that I was starting to notice about Mukuro was the fact that he was very good at those kinds of retorts to the point of making my mother look bad; could it be from the strangely elegant way that he speaks? "Now, surrender your body to me!" I couldn't help but cough, sparing only a few seconds of my dark side's influence on me before immediately suppressing it again, scolding myself (in my mind) for even thinking of such thoughts in a critical situation like this one.

"No...!" As Tsuna quickly moved to the side while Mukuro lunged at him, I suddenly heard the door to this room (that was surprisingly still closed somehow) slam open and something flying off of it.

It looked a lot like dynamite, making me immediately guess on who it was. "Watch out, Tenth!" Gokudera warned loudly as the dynamite was about to explode and Tsuna was not completely off of the blast range.

"Hiieeeeh?!" In surprise, Tsuna jumped back as the loud sound of the explosion was heard, making me flinch and close my eyes instinctively from the fear.

Fortunately, I was still relatively far from the area so I was unharmed but I could only wonder about Tsuna. "Bianchi and Gokudera-kun, you're okay!" When I heard Tsuna's voice and coughing from the resulting smoke of the explosion, I opened my eyes to see his relieved expression, Hibari on the floor and the two people that we really should've had with us all this time so that this would end quickly: Gokudera and Bianchi.

How Gokudera was still well was questionable but I figured that I wasn't supposed to ruin the mood so I made no comments on it out loud. "It looks like we're late," Bianchi pointed out as she noticed Zakuro with me, "Who is that?"

"Hmph, who would answer that so easily? It's none of your business, idjit!" Somehow, he was now in a better mood seeing by his rowdy yet not pissed off response.

Bianchi's suspicious glare only intensified, making Zakuro's smirk widen smugly as my input on this situation was being grossly overlooked... "Don't worry about him for now, Bianchi; he only moves if she does." As you can see, I was unable to say a thing as Reborn pretty much closed this topic on everyone.

That 'for now' was very suspicious though, as if he would bother Zakuro later; I could only imagine him getting really mad at that which would honestly be at least somewhat amusing. "Tch, those suspicious bastards had better not do anything to the Tenth..." Although his sister had dropped her suspicion right when Reborn had told her to do so ('for now' though), Gokudera was still glaring at us both.

_Ugh, I'm still being suspected..._ Gokudera was a persistent guy, I noted. "Anyway, we should worry about Hibari-san instead, his body probably took most of the force of that explosion!" Tsuna said in worry over what was going to stab him with a trident, making me a bit surprised at his attitude over something like that.

But then again, he had a point: although Mukuro was possessing him, it was still Hibari's body and hurting it would mean Hibari's death. In a way, it only made Mukuro seem even crueler than before as he wouldn't even die if the other bodies did; he was using them completely. "Then Hibari was the one trying to hurt you?! How dare he, that fucking bastard!"

"No, Gokudera-kun, you don't understand, he's-!" "Kufufufu, how idiotic of you to let your guard down like this; your kindness will be your downfall, Vongola..."

For some reason, he was still using Hibari to talk even though he was on the floor and seemingly in not a very good condition to do anything; could he force the body to talk like that? How cruel... "Mukuro!" Tsuna got back from Hibari as Gokudera and Bianchi visibly tensed at the name that they had heard, looking at Hibari warily.

At least they were actually processing the situation well enough to get that yes, Hibari was Mukuro right now (kinda). "After all, you seem to be forgetting that..." As Mukuro (Hibari) mentioned that we were all apparently forgetting something, I started noticing that I could no longer see the trident with him. _Huh, then where would it-_

"... There is more than one person under my control!" Snapping my head to the somehow forgotten Yamamoto (Mukuro), I gasped as I could already see that trident head flying towards them, bound to hit someone.

I glanced at Zakuro and found that he was still in the same mood as before, sickening me as he didn't even seem to care. "Be careful, Tenth!"

"Hayato, don't- Agh!" Although Gokudera tried to get in front of Tsuna so that he could protect him, Bianchi got in the way and took the hit instead, protecting her brother. The shock in both Gokudera and Tsuna's faces was even more intense than mine and for good reasons; they were much closer to her, in all sense of the word.

Still in shock, I looked at Reborn to see if he was affected by what had happened: he wasn't completely shocked like us (Tsuna, Gokudera and I) but he seemed be frowning in the slightest of ways and his eyes were shadowed by his fedora, an effect that gave a 'darker' quality to his expression, which I didn't really have mentality to question at the time from focusing on processing this event. "Get away from her, she's possessed!" Reborn spoke up first, (somewhat) playing his role of the calm one as he warned them of the obvious that we couldn't quite process.

If anything, that warning was more of a way to tell us to snap out of it as we would be done with soon. "Kufufu, is that agitation that I hear in the Arcobaleno's voice? Have you finally realized on how hopeless this truly is for you? I'm not letting you away either," Mukuro spoke with Bianchi's body, pulling the trident out of her arm and making me look away from the stab marks completely visible on her, blood dripping from them. _Bianchi..._

Gokudera and Tsuna backed away from Bianchi as she (he?) pulled out with one arm (as the other one had the trident head) the atrocity that was her (his?) Poison Cooking. "Bianchi's Poison Cooking!" They seemed surprised with this, probably due to the fact that it was Bianchi's skill alone; it wasn't really the most appropriate thing for Mukuro to use.

Said Poison Cooking was actually thrown at Reborn instead who dodged it easily while glancing to the side, almost as if predicting that Yamamoto was going to come from that direction to see if he could attack him in some way. Throwing the trident head at Yamamoto, Bianchi took out more Poison Cooking to throw as I could spot Hibari standing up and getting his tonfas out while charging.

_They're coming from all sides just for a baby?! Is he really that strong...?_ It seemed like it as every attempt made to even scratch him did not work at all and Reborn didn't even bother to retaliate. "You need more than that if you plan on doing anything; I'm not part of your goals anyway." Even though there was no guarantee of Reborn not being at all involved in Mukuro's plan, Reborn was pretty confident in his words, making me notice that he had been smirking the whole time.

_"More,_ you say?" Yamamoto (Mukuro) spoke as it seemed like they figured out that they were better off trying to finish off Tsuna and Gokudera first, getting farther from Reborn. The three bodies possessed by Mukuro possessed a very sinister smirk, almost as if planning something that would definitely screw us over. "Kufufufu, then there is no need to worry; there is _plenty_ coming your way..."

_What does he mean with that...?_ I thought meekly, not really wanting to know the answer.

... I had a really bad feeling about this. "Spit it out already!" Gokudera said impatiently, seemingly in no mood to deal with Mukuro's plans.

"Oh, but I have no need to do such a thing, you will soon see what I mean..." Although I was focusing on the general area of Tsuna and Gokudera, I could see something from the corner of my eye: from outside the (open) door, various dark, shadow-like as if in the distance and covered by the darkness of the abandoned building moving this way.

As I stared at them intently, Tsuna and Gokudera started to notice them too as they looked in confusion at whatever was coming.

Getting closer, I could see... skirts? Most of the people (as far I could see) had skirts, very familiar skirts; two other people looked completely different yet also familiar in some way but I was unable to fully make out on who they were. _Kokuyo and... Namimori school uniforms?_

When a collective, somewhat high pitched, "Kufufu," was heard from them as they were dangerously close to this room, my face became as pale as paper. _No... It can't- Come on..._

_Not the fangirls...!_

I took a step back, actually colliding with Zakuro who was behind me. If this was a normal situation, I would've gotten away from Zakuro and apologized but the trauma was far too intense for me to act normally. "Save me, Zakuro, please!"

Going through the door was Ken and Chikusa (or so were their names, I think), followed by a lot of fangirls; far too many in fact, as they probably came from the HFW I. I practically hugged Zakuro's arm in fear as they all were entering the room, squeezing it hard as if to see if it would reduce the trauma. "What the hell are you doing, let me go, idjit!"

I didn't comply, shaking my head in refusal to prove my point. "As if, you're supposed to protect me, right?!" If the fangirls were at least in their normal state, I could somewhat tolerate them as they would not have any killing intent towards me (except for maybe the Kokuyo ones) but the fact that a faction as dangerous as the fangirls was all (somehow) possessed by Mukuro was simply something that I could not stomach without fearing for my life.

"Hiiieeeh, the girls in the other room?!" Meanwhile, Tsuna was also freaking out about this, looking surprised at the sheer number of the fangirls.

_This is_ so_ bad..._ "That Glasses bastard and the animal bastard are in there as well!" Gokudera pointed out, glaring at them as if remembering some not-so-pleasant memories just by being in their presence; I could understand it with Ken but just when did he meet Chikusa?

"You think that they'll actually stand a chance against me, idjit?! Just let go already!" Zakuro waved his am off and succeeded in basically cutting off the emotional support that I was trying to hold by seeing if I could rely on my Holy Protection so I was left to freak out by myself.

_I'm so doomed, I'm so doomed...!_ I looked around, seeing that Tsuna probably felt the same. _Well, I still have Zakuro, I'm not completely doomed, right? I'll be fine..._ Breathing in an out, I noticed that the room was getting so full that Zakuro and I were forced to get back so that we wouldn't get too close to fangirls; that was not a good sign.

**. . .**

_I... I just... How is this not a dream...?!_

As they all gathered, all with Mukuro-like smirks on their faces, I was practically ready to actually see if I could put the whip (that I still had) to good use if necessary, looking to both my left and right in a mix of seriousness and fear._ I'm totally doomed..._

"... So, shall we begin? Kufufufu...!"

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**Author's Notes**

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_Dat Mukuro_ in the end though, the badassery! It's almost **7 am** but it was worth it, I'm done! Damn, that was quite the twisty chapter but I think that's one of the fun things about this story: it always pulls off whatever's weird and Observer-chan takes it very seriously. LOL Observer-chan getting scared to the point of grabbing Zakuro, she really would do stuff like that in those situations ^^'

The next chapter will be even more twisty and I can almost see the ending of the Kokuyo Arc so I have to do my best, do my best, do my best! Not that the next chapter will be that terribly hard, I'm actually really looking forward to it since I've been planning on it for a very long time.

Bianchi is a badass though, I hope I'm not the only one thinking that because I'm pretty damned serious. Anyway, I'll go to bed as I should be doing and I guess get working on the next chapter! Look forward to it?


	45. Chapter 41

**First Words:**

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**L's Cappuccino - Hahaha, I haven't played or watched Danganronpa so... Damn it, I suck at references! But it was surprising? I guess I did a good job then 8D I mean, Mukuro can possess multiple people, right? So why wouldn't he take advantage of the huge amount of fangirls lying around? It is the great Mukuro-fangirl army... even though half of those fangirls are Hibari fangirls. Besides, it sounded hilarious so it had to be included, that's _'The strange land of Namimori'_ way XD But if you're surprised about that then you'll definitely be surprised with the outcome of this chapter, it's pretty lol-worthy (As I said, it's _'The strange land of Namimori'_ way). The best part is that I had everything (the previous chapter and this chapter) planned since like, Chapter 37 or something so the hype is on for me (even though I'm the Author and I know what's gonna happen lol).**

This story is being favourite'd and followed by one more person, Hell yeah! It really makes me have a sense of duty since I can't just be super lazy, I have people that are reading this and I can't fail them! So I'll continue on and try my best, and I hope that you'll stick with me throughout this very, very long fic (I'm even considering the addition of an index because it's gonna be so long XD).

Anyway, this chapter is extra twisty and it marks that we're very, very close to the end of the Kokuyo Arc: I think that I have to write maybe 2 or 3 chapters and then it'll be over. After all, you should recognize at what point in the Arc we happen to be in (or maybe it's just me who has been rewatching the Kokuyo Arc just for this story) and it's pretty much the end of episode 25. So yes, I'm using the anime as a structure instead of the manga even though I also read it: I just find the anime to be more convenient. I find that ironic because I'll probably cover the manga exclusive arcs as well, but I think I'll go for a sequel when that happens.

It might also seem like I'm saying stuff along the lines of, "I'm almost out of this damned Arc!" But that's not really the case as I'm having lots of fun writing it: if I weren't having fun then I doubt that I'd even be writing in the first place, although I'm also writing for the people that bothered following this story because they're automatically awesome (yes). I do hate writing exposition though, especially because you already know all of it and the fact that it's very cannon-ish and we need more... 'this fic-ish'...? Sure, let's go with that ^^'

**Fun Facts:**

**\- You've probably noticed it already but Observer-chan cannot recognize Leon even though she has seen him before. Unfortunately, she had only seen him in chameleon form while she was also never explained of Leon's capabilities. If told about this, Observer-chan would probably freak out in many ways...**

**\- While the fight with Birds was happening, the Bloody Twins were following an illusion of Kyoko and Hana and not the real deal. Basically, Tsuna was going to almost stab himself for nothing. It was quite amusing when Shamal noticed that it was an illusion while helping out too but that wasn't recorded with the bird cameras at that point (unfortunately);**

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**Chapter 41: Fluffy cats and sticky green**

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_Okay... What the hell can we do now?!_ In a hopeless situation like this, I would consider running away but I couldn't just leave Tsuna and Gokudera alone with Mukuro... and his army which was _also_ Mukuro somehow but whatever, it was his army of fangirls. I guessed that he probably went ahead and made a 'contract' (what else did you want to call it,_ possession?)_ with all of them while I was trying to get away from him but then again, they also could've been masochistic enough to not mind getting stabbed by Mukuro at some other time although I'd rather think of the latter option as impossible to preserve my faith in Humanity. "Hmph, I'll just blow up whoever tries to hurt the Tenth!"

"Stop, Gokudera-kun, even though Mukuro is possessing them right now, they're all innocent! You'll just hurt their bodies, what if they die?!" Tsuna pleaded even though he was basically doomed if he wasn't planning on hurting any of the fangirls since they (as Mukuro) had the intent to harm him.

... Or getting his body so that he could be that influential because Tsuna was apparently the next Boss of some (presumably important) mafia family; either way, Tsuna was screwed. "Kufufu, shouldn't you be more concerned for your own life, Tsunayoshi Sawada?" Mukuro said as Bianchi instead of his army of fangirls, making it slightly (but only slightly) less creepy as it was only one voice. "After all, these will be your last moments; you can at least have better last words than that girl, no?" _Shut up, those weren't supposed to be my actual last words!_

"Oh, last words? I'm curious, idjit: did you plead for your life or something?" It almost seemed like he was going to laugh just from the thought of me doing such a thing, making me want to punch him in the face; I restrained myself though, seeing as it would do me no good anyway (since he was way stronger than me). I also got reminded of the fact that he was in a better mood than before, somehow not ruined by my display of fear that consisted of me basically clinging to him just so I could feel slightly safer.

_But then again, I'd rather plead for my life than to call an army of fangirls if we're talking about last words, not that it'd matter anyway since it's supposedly too early for me to die!_ After all, that was why I had Holy Protection although that reasoning was not the most convincing, especially when it was someone like His Divine Presence saying it. "It's none of your business, okay?! Stop distracting me!" I answered, somewhat embarrassed as I reminded myself of just how cutesy my high pitched voice sounded when I shouted for the fangirls; it was a voice that I never wanted to emulate ever again.

"Tch, killjoy..." _At least I'm not questioning your sanity, damn you!_ But then again, judging by Bluebell, not being quite right in the head seemed to be a common thing with angels, making me hope that I wasn't just talking with a psychopath in Heaven; Paradise just became a lot scarier.

Anyway, the fangirls were practically surrounding Tsuna, almost ignoring us (Zakuro and I) if not for the various glances that would come our way. "Kufufu, not that it matters: I want to get this over with as fast as possible; we've wasted far too much time in here." At least I could agree with him on that, as much as I didn't want to agree with a person as cruel as Mukuro Rokudo.

"... Farewel- _Guh...!"_ Before he could even finish saying that word, the fangirls kind of paralyzed, not moving at all even though they were heading towards Tsuna before (while he was talking).

Before I knew it, the fangirls were starting to seem more... transparent to me, fading away in- _Mist...?!_ Like I said (thought), the fangirls were turning to an almost blinding fog, a very familiar fog... _So the huge army of fangirls was an illusion all along?! What the hell, Mukuro?! We were all tricked!_

"What...?!" To my surprise, that came from Yamamoto who was Mukuro at the moment but somehow he seemed shocked, as if something completely unexpected had happened even though he shouldn't be in that state at all. _I mean, that was an illusion, right...? And he's the one that makes illusions, right...? So what the hell is going on here?!_

As the mist was getting clearer and clearer, I could make out the location of everyone that I knew; they were all in the same places as before, even the bodies possessed by Mukuro that I assumed would take advantage of the mist to attack. Instead, Mukuro was just as surprised as we all were, much to my confusion. At the general area of the fangirls were Ken, Chikusa and another person behind them who seemed to be a girl since she was wearing a skirt. As the fog wasn't completely cleared yet, I wasn't able to see who exactly it was but I could somehow tell that the girl (or pretty much her silhouette) looked familiar.

"So you really were all here, I was so worried!"

... That girl, as revealed by the slowly decreasing mist, happened to be Kyoko Sasagawa. _W-What..._

_**"KYOKO-CHAN?!"**_ Yet again, both Tsuna and I had the same reaction toward this situation, shouting incredulously from this shocking appearance.

I did know that Kyoko was here but I was not at all expecting her to show up in this room, in front of Mukuro Rokudo (or the bodies possessed by him)! "The girls that were getting out of this place didn't know where you were and whenever I checked on the people that I found they'd be gone!" One of them was probably Hibari, I assumed as there would be no way that he'd mention her otherwise.

_But seriously, it's getting so late that even the fangirls are already awake and going home?!_ After all, they were all unconscious and you'd assume that they'd take a while to wake up; if that much time had passed, I could already guess that classes were almost over. "Um... Kyoko-chan..." Tsuna seemed to be somewhat nervous in speaking to her, something that I had already noticed before but it was emphasized in this strange situation. _Oh yeah, didn't he like Kyoko or something?_ "H-How did you do that?"

"Hm? Do what?" She blinked twice, seemingly confused at something that was very obvious: how in the hell did she pull off such an illusion? As far as I could tell, that illusion consisted of tricking everyone to think that there was an army of fangirls possessed by Mukuro... while tricking Mukuro himself to think that...? "Ah, you mean the illusion?" Surprisingly, she wasn't playing dumb before since she wasn't avoiding the subject. _But how did she only realize that now?_ "Isn't it amazing? Even if the cat might not actually be there, it's real if you really believe that it's there; you can pet it all you want too!"

Even though she was using such an adorable analogy (that's probably how her mind works), it was actually a very grim subject to think about: our perception of things could be completely false compared to reality but since we truly believe it to be real, we won't even notice it. It's a bit like hiding from the harsh reality with a better fantasy or replacing said truth for a nightmare, making it even worse. It seemed like illusions worked the same way for both cases except that they would come from someone else (the 'Illusionist') instead which was quite disturbing.

_So Mukuro got tricked into thinking that he was possessing fangirls...? And it works because he was so sure of it in his mind...? I don't think Kyoko could do it, even if it was possible..._ I mean, wouldn't that be very hard to pull off? Mukuro was tricked into thinking that he was controlling fangirls when they weren't even there in the first place! Was she capable of predicting his movements or were those movements actually controlled with his mind unknowingly even though it was an illusion? After all, illusions are cast on the mind... _Argh, this is so confusing!_

I turned to Zakuro, thinking that he would probably have my answers although I wasn't really sure that he'd even give them to me. I was surprised to see that he didn't seem so amused now, even though it would be the perfect time for him to feel that way: 'everyone had been completely fooled by Kyoko while Zakuro knew it all along, smirking in pride.' It seemed like something that he'd do and yet he seemed to almost be scowling as if the opposite had happened.

**. . .**

This time, it was my turn to smirk, finding at least one advantage in the strange thing that makes us (Zakuro and I) know what we're thinking. "So, you didn't notice that it was an illusion, did you?" I should've been more surprised than anything but I just really wanted to have at least a few seconds of glory as this day wasn't the best of days for me (a huge understatement).

"Idjit, don't look so fucking proud when you didn't see through it either! That brat, Kyoko or whatever, her illusions are strong; her going against Torikabuto would be a sight to see, that's for sure." _Torikabuto? It's another angel, isn't it...?_ If it was then he was implying that Kyoko could match an angel with illusions, a very scary thought. Speaking of that, wasn't His Divine Presence supposed to make me see through illusions? If he wasn't doing such a thing, it could only mean that he does it whenever he feels like it.

... Needless to say that I dropped my smirk fast, bringing up many unpleasant thoughts in my head. "I see... Kufufu, that is indeed quite impressive for an intruder, but it won't work a second time. Moreover, you don't seem to be aware of the situation that you have put yourself in, how pitiful." Despite Kyoko's apparent super strong powers of illusions, Mukuro seemed to still be confident.

That in itself wasn't really surprising as he was controlling (possessing) 5 bodies at once and Kyoko probably couldn't do anything more than cast illusions; she seemed unarmed and didn't look so physically strong (especially in contrast to her brother), proving my point. "I'm really sorry for that," _Is she... apologizing to the cruel bastard that's trying to kill us...?_ "But I had to do it or the girls that I found would end up hurt too..."

_How does she know that?!_ After all, the danger would be possession so if she knew that they'd be hurt, she was implying that she knew that they'd be possessed. _Do I even want to know...?_ She smiled although it was quite the sad smile, supported by her gaze of sadness directed at the general area of Tsuna, Gokudera and Bianchi (who was close by).

"Kyoko-chan... " Tsuna muttered, visibly affected by her sadness. "Anyway, this place is very dangerous for you, you should run away!" He warned out of concern for Kyoko even though she'd probably be better off than him from the fact that her illusions were apparently strong enough to deceive angels while Tsuna was only strong when shot in the head... and Reborn was all out of special bullets.

He probably knew that and warned her anyway, something that I probably wouldn't do either so it was admirable to me. "Run?" She seemed to be confused again, tilting her head to side as if to seem cuter but judging by her personality she was probably not doing it on purpose. "You should be running away too, why are you all staying here? It's dangerous, you know?" Somehow, I could not feel the seriousness that Kyoko probably wanted to convey because she was still with that confused and innocent expression, making me wonder if she even knew what was going on even if proven that she knew a bit much for her own good.

"We know it's dangerous, that's why we want you to go back to safety!" I decided to help out Tsuna, also worried for Kyoko despite how she could probably handle herself anyway: she just looks so... delicate that it's hard to leave her alone. "We can't just endanger you like that, we're your friends; we can't just get out of here either but you can so..." I didn't finish that sentence because I couldn't find anything else to say. I could only hope that I had a convincing smile on my face to make her feel better but I wasn't so sure if I pulled it off well or not.

_Even if she's super strong with illusions, she wouldn't stand a chance with Mukuro; he's got everyone possessed, Kyoko can't fend him off. I'd hate to leave it to her too..._ "Just listen to the Tenth and run already, damned woman!" Gokudera also tried to help Tsuna out, probably because he saw that it was important matter for him. Did he know that Tsuna liked her?

Either way, Tsuna would probably appreciate it. "Everyone... Thank you for worrying about me. Maybe Onii-chan was right, I guess I was worrying about you too much...! Honestly, I'm still a bit worried but you'll be okay, right?" The smile that she was giving us carried much less sadness to it than before, a smile truly fit for someone as bright and cheerful as Kyoko. In turn, we couldn't help but feel better by it as we now knew that Kyoko trusted us to get through this on our own.

We nodded firmly, smiling in return (Gokudera was smirking more than anything, seemingly confident in himself) with a bit more determination to end this. I guess that Kyoko coming over was more of a good thing than a bad one, not only clearing us of a huge army of fangirls but also motivating us when we were in such a bad situation. "Hmph, you bet we will!" Gokudera said almost as if ready to get his dynamite out. At least he wasn't possessed or we would seriously be in trouble.

I mean, who could survive explosions?! But then again, these people were strangely resistant to stuff. "Yeah... We'll-"

My smile was no more and no further words came from me as I saw something that I really did not want to see. A scene... that simply made me forget to even breathe for a few seconds, the seconds occupied by a shriek that came from Kyoko Sasagawa.

_**"KYOKO-CHAAAAAN!"**_

It wasn't me that screamed out that name but Tsuna, even more shocked than I was, he seemed horrified. As I thought about it, Kyoko was his crush, right? He was probably feeling as bad if not worse than me...

Mukuro as Ken had used his very, _very_ sharp claws that I had previously experienced in my arm and scratched her from her shoulders to her stomach with both arms, going diagonally in opposite directions. Now, I knew just how bad those damned claws were and they were terrible: that injury on my arm was more of a cut than a scratch because it'd definitely go deeper through the skin than a normal scratch; you could say that I was lucky for them having only gotten my arm or I'd be done for.

So Kyoko... Kyoko was _not_ in a good situation. The wound might not be fatal but as I said, those scratches might as well have been cuts instead and cuts make you lose way more blood than scratches; seeing her Namimori Uniform bloodied was proof of that, as much as I didn't want it to be true. And that cut had reached her stomach...

"Oh, were you still going to talk to this girl? Kufufufu, how careless of me to have finished her off beforehand; she was wasting my time, you see. I did tell you that I was going to finish this as quickly as possible, did I not?" Those words, although said in a fairly amused tone that probably derived from our suffering, were almost inaudible to me after the first sentence.

After all, I already knew what he was going to say after that and I couldn't bear to hear it while starting at Kyoko and Ken, who happened to be the one talking and inconveniently near Kyoko's... corpse.

Probably the worst part about seeing said corpse was the fact that she was still smiling, even though she was unconscious... "Mukuro..." Tsuna's expression darkened significantly, more in despair than anything as he was on his knees, muttering that name in a very negative light. Gokudera was glaring at Ken while giving a few glances at Tsuna, seemingly worried about him.

Even so, Tsuna didn't say anything further, although it seemed like he wanted to but couldn't bear to say it. My shock turned to sadness as I looked at everything from the same position. Zakuro seemed to be looking somewhat troubled if not serious, staring at Kyoko almost as if trying to find something but I couldn't and wasn't in the mood to figure out what. "Let it all out, Tsuna; show him your determination. Those words, no matter what they are, will always be the right answer, the answer of the Vongola. You can't stay pathetic forever and do nothing; you will win for everyone, for Kyoko."

"... I'm expecting no less from you, Tsuna."

Reborn's words held a lot of intensity in it, even for a voice as squeaky as Reborns. It was even affecting me even though I wasn't mentioned at all: it was Tsuna's moment, and Reborn seemed confident that he'd do it for sure. Somehow, it made me feel like Tsuna could pull through as well, even if the odds were against us. "Reborn..."

"I..." Tsuna's hands formed fists, his expression, as far as I could see it, was dead serious even though he still seemed somewhat thoughtful and hesitating, probably still processing Reborn's words. "I want to win..."

_Tsuna..._ The seriousness of his words was making both me and Gokudera react in slight surprise, as Tsuna hadn't done much to actually fight Mukuro at all, more of the opposite and even when he did he'd fail so hard that it wouldn't even count. "Oh? This sounds quite promising; I'd prefer to hear the rest of it after I possess you." That was definitely a taunt and Mukuro (Ken) was definitely not serious while saying that but Tsuna didn't even seem to react to it; maybe he wasn't listening?

That... actually seemed like a good thing to do as Mukuro would just make us pissed off. "Tenth...?" Still somewhat worried, Gokudera tried to get his attention but it didn't work out that well. But then again, he didn't say it in a loud tone or anything so it seemed like he was mumbling more than anything.

"I just can't lose against such a horrible person... I've got to beat him, at least that!" Tsuna rose from his knees, determination clear on his face but suddenly, something started to shine brightly, giving off a blinding light that I could only compare to the Holy Light in Heaven which at least didn't blind you (because His Divine Presence would be in front of it?).

_Too bright...!_ As far as I had seen, that light came from where Reborn was currently standing and went up really fast although I really couldn't tell what it was exactly. "Vongola, what have you done?!" As the light's intensity diminished slightly (at least to a point where I could see), everyone seemed to be surprised with this except for Reborn, who was smirking as if he knew it all.

Zakuro was looking kind of pissed off, probably because of how bright the light was. "So it finally emerged," Reborn said, confusing me further. _Emerged? What, this bright thing's supposed to be good news?!_ As I looked at it, it was kind of green, a green that I had seen before... on Reborn's back. _Ew, it's that green thing! What the hell, that's why there are these string things around! Holy shit, they're probably sticky, hell no!_

I was more than freaking out from this, getting behind Zakuro while still looking at what was currently happening. "What the hell are you getting scared about, idjit? That thing's not gonna kill you or anything." _It doesn't matter if it kills me or not, it's disgusting!_ I didn't waver... from my fear and kept my position, satisfied that it wasn't that close to Tsuna and Reborn, the closest to that thing.

"I didn't do anything- Leon?!" _Leon? It has a name?!_ Tsuna seemed to recognize it while I did not, seemingly in the dark about whatever it was. Gokudera seemed to be looking at it in surprise as well, but in a familiar kind of surprise that almost conveyed that he recognized it too, making me feel even more left out.

... Not that I'd want to be in on something that I would never want to touch. "For some reason, Leon always turns into a cocoon when my students are given a trial and when they grow from it, he creates new items." _Cocoon...? Wait, that thing creates items?! How the hell does it do that?!_ Even if it could do that, I wouldn't really want to touch said items anyway so I could only consider that to be completely pointless.

"New items?!" Tsuna asked incredulously. After that though, Tsuna seemed to look like he thinking about something, something potentially useful (I hoped). _What can that thing even make, candy?_

... Finding that mental image to be slightly nauseous, I dismissed that train of thoughts and looked around, not focusing on Leon (it has a name!) like everyone else.

With that, I inevitably had to look at Kyoko; although I wanted to just glance through it, my gaze was immediately locked on Kyoko's body as somehow, I was starting to see the floor through it. Through... it...? As in transparent...?

**. . .**

Somehow, almost as if on purpose, there was much less mist than usual as it faded away, failing to catch anyone's attention for it. After all, the shiny green thing stood out much more than Kyoko, especially when it had such ridiculous powers.

Realizing that this actually meant that Kyoko was an illusion and that she was probably unharmed and away from this place, I sighed... a long, _long_ sigh that could only successfully demonstrate of how tired I was of this day.

_'It won't work a second time,' he said, 'I finished her off,' he freaking said... Damn that Kyoko, tricking us all again!_ I could only wonder if she did it on purpose as that death was far too convenient, making Tsuna be much more determined than before. But then again, one really couldn't be sure with Kyoko... "Zakuro-san."

"... What?" He almost seemed hesitant to say that, as if knowing what I was going to say and not wanting to hear it.

Even so, I didn't really care what he felt about my issues as he was the only one that I could talk to without interrupting anything. "Whenever someone happens to die, could you just call me stupid or slap me in the face before I freak out?"

**. . .**

"Why does Byakuran-sama want me to deal with this brat, idjit...?"

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

* * *

_"(...); either way, Tsuna was screwered." - The strange land of Namimori, 2014_

One day, there will be an OC that will say these god-awful words on purpose, created by Yours Truly; I just know it. That'll probably take a while and be on another story but it will happen, okay? Eventually...

_Kyoko is love, Kyoko is life._ She is my Savior, next time I make a weird story she'll be God damn it, she literally saved this Arc! Okay, I won't make her God on my next story but I have this great urge to write a one-shot about Kyoko; unfortunately, my brain does not have the ability to think of one-shots...

Either way, do you remember that Tsuna in this story was like, "I'm gonna save Fuuta and defeat you, Mukuro Rokudo!" but then it didn't happen? Yeah... He should not have done that because he was supposed to get his determination later in the Arc instead or he would not get his damned mittens! Basically, I thought that I'd be doomed until I realized that I could take advantage of my plans to have Kyoko intervene and bam! He'd definitely be determined if something happened to Kyoko, right?

And so, the Arc was saved. It was a beautiful day indeed. You know, it always hurts to have Mukuro lose since I have this OP image of him but he's supposed to lose so I have no choice! Speaking of that, Kyoko is indeed pretty strong in illusions in this fic but that will be used for comedic effect and plot convenience so no, she won't really fight... much, especially because she's weak at everything else. I actually thought of making her the Mist Guardian instead of Chrome but that was way too unfair to Chrome so I kind of gave up on that idea; besides, I came up with some awesome ideas after this decision, solidifying it as what I'll do with the story.

I liked Mukuro's reaction to what Tsuna said about beating him, it was just like, "Cool story bro, tell me more after I possess you." So I had to add that in this story too since it was hilarious XD By the way, when I made Reborn say, "I expect no less from you," it might've seemed like I was making Reborn hold Tsuna in high regard but it's just me fucking up translation since that's just how I roll (unfortunately) ;_;

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter?


	46. Chapter 42

**First Words:**

* * *

**L's Cappuccino - Hell yes, I told you that it was going to be surprising ^^! I guess my job is done... not really, I still have to finish the story. Now that I think about it Kyoko did troll Mukuro twice, wow, that's hilarious, I didn't even notice it myself XD Mukuro still has a lot to learn I guess lol. I can see what you mean with Kyoko being a combination of Byakuran and Nana, all the smiles and all the, "you're screwed" underneath but Kyoko is an innocent maiden though, just sayin' (XD)**

**Guestsk - Like... You are awesome, it's awesome people like you (and _L's Cappuccino,_ awesome username by the way 8D) that make me get my lazy ass off of whatever I was doing and actually write instead of procrastinating; I probably wouldn't have finished this chapter if it weren't for you. You read super fast too, my story manager couldn't keep up with you as you read the chapters! Needless to say that I was online while you reviewed everything but since you were a guest, I couldn't answer right away but I was super happy with all the reviews: as for whether you could skip right to chapter 53, I was authorizing it all the way so don't worry ^^ And you were saying that I was a great writer, and saying that this deserved reviews... ;_; I'm really happy, okay? Thank you for the reviews, I read them all like 5 times, you're awesome beyond awesomeness and it makes me ashamed to ever call myself awesome with your level of awesomeness.**

While I was gone, this story got 1 more favorite and 4 more followers, hell yeah! Thank you for those, you're all really cool for having even read this far into the story and possibly looking forward to more.

Anyway, I have more cool news: I have published two other stories and they're both complete so it would be really cool if you checked them out. One of them is called _Suddenly, I'm in anothe__r world _and the other one is _How we met: _I personally think that _Suddenly, I'm in another world _is pretty cool, you seriously have no idea of how much fun it was for me to write and picturing your reactions to it as you finish reading (but I won't spoil you though 8D).

So, one fun fact is that the title of Chapter 41 was purposely made to be like the title of Chapter 2 so I do hope that you caught that ^^ Anyway, this is the 50th Chapter of the series, hell yeah! (Edit: or at least, that was supposed ot be the case, but now it isn't since I edited all sorts of stuff; either way, I didn't want to delete this part) Thank you for reading this far, you're awesome! Now I can only hope that you'll stick with me as I get to the 100th Chapter (since it'll probably happen) and all the way to the ending because I'll try my best to not drop it! Okay, now to stop being off-topic and go over the fact that this chapter might not have been the strongest out of all of them for the 50th Chapter: I also had no idea of any special thing to do for celebrations so yeah, that's also not happening, unfortunately. ^^'

Yes, Tsuna's so intense and loud that _most _(not all) of his dialogue is in **bold.**

**Fun facts:**

**\- Tsuna did hear Observer-chan's rebuke and his reaction would've definitely been a blank stare if he could make one. Not that it made his impression of Observer-chan go down since he already had the impression that Observer-chan was a bit on the tough side: ironically, Observer-chan's not really that tough at all;**

**\- Yes, getting Gokudera was all part of Mukuro's plan. Now if only his plans would work on Tsuna...**

Anyway, enjoy! 8D

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**Chapter 42: Getting a reassuring power-up  
**

* * *

"To think that something like this would be shown to me. Kufufufu, you are certainly interesting in many ways."

Laughed at again: _that_ was Mukuro's consideration and fear for whatever the hell had just happened.

So reassuring...! The fact that the green thing was still up there with its string... web things (they were thicker than that but I guess it's still fine to call them that) made this whole situation even better. "He's laughing at us, Reborn! What am I supposed to do now?!" Tsuna asked, seeing the various smirks on his (and mine... one of them) friends' faces.

"But, I am rather tired of your endeavors; I'll finish this now!" Mukuro said as Ken while he was catching the trident and charging towards Tsuna. Bianchi (who had the trident head before) was stepping away for some reason, even though it could've been more convenient to have her stab Tsuna instead; what was he planning on doing?

He cut (stabbed? sliced? _with a trident?_) the green thing that was in the way of him and Tsuna, making for a very slimy ground. _I'd better not step on that..._ "He's coming!" Reborn kicked Tsuna in the face as he said that, consequentially moving Tsuna out of the way as he used the force of said kick to go backwards, making both dodge Mukuro.

"Ow... You didn't have to do that!" Tsuna protested but stopped giving attention to Reborn as he noticed Ken (Mukuro), who happened to be far too close for comfort. Speaking of that, the people possessed by Mukuro seemed to be pretty scattered, making Zakuro look at them suspiciously as if to see if they'd even dare to make a move on us.

I wouldn't really call it a good plan if Mukuro decided to do such a thing: after all, we had no intention of making a move (because one couldn't make a move and the other one didn't care) so focusing on Tsuna was the better idea. "Hey, it looks like something was shot upwards," Reborn only said such words, ignoring what Tsuna had told him while pointing up.

Although it was shining a bright white, faint forms could be seen but I couldn't make out on what they were. Reborn went to quickly get them and gave them to Tsuna, who only stared at them quizzically. "It looks like this is your new item," Reborn remarked, staring at them as well.

As I leaned to the side in an attempt to be able to see what Tsuna was holding, I could only look as surprised and outraged as Tsuna. "MITTENS?!"_ Freaking mittens?! What the hell is that going to do for us in this situation?! That green thing is not only useless but also disgusting at the same time!_

... Fucking mittens. I sighed, shaking my head as Zakuro gave me a blank look. _Great, this is so reassuring..._ "They're not what they seem, idjit." _What?_ I looked at Zakuro in confusion, trying to figure out just what those mittens could be. _Not what they seem? Then what are they, boxing gloves disguised as mittens?!_ "You'll see when the brat starts using them." _Using them for what, warming up his hands?_

_Damn that angel, he figured out what I was thinking again!_ "Just put them on for now," Reborn said, looking at them as if trying to analyze them to their very core.

Maybe those mittens actually held more to them than what I thought they would? Tsuna put them on hesitantly, probably thinking of how useless such an action would be. "You should not let your guard down, Tsunayoshi Sawada!" Ken (Mukuro) was in a position where Tsuna was unable to dodge that stab, instead choosing to block it with his hands.

And to my surprise, it totally worked: somehow, the mittens seemed to have hardened when taking that hit, something that I was not at all expecting. _I guess this is what he means with them not being what they seem?_ "There's something inside!" Tsuna exclaimed, taking one of the mittens off and making something drop to his hand.

A silver bullet? It looked a lot like those Dying Will Bullets, but it was different in color as Dying Will Bullets were red._ That's... actually kind of reassuring: Tsuna has a power-up!_ "Hm? This one is new," Reborn muttered as he quickly took it from Tsuna's hand, startling Tsuna a bit as he saw Reborn getting farther from him. "I guess there's no choice but to test it out."

"What?! And how would you do that anyway, Leon is-" "Don't worry about him, Tsuna, Leon is a shapeshifting chameleon, remember?" Reborn cut Tsuna off, saying that with more confident attitude; he was more serious before so it was actually a welcome change for me as it would definitely raise morale.

But wait, shapeshifting...?_ A chameleon that shapeshifts?! I'm pretty sure that's not something that they do!_

_... And wait, now that I think about it, didn't Reborn have a chameleon on his shoulder?_

**. . .**

_Holy shit, that green thing was the chameleon, what the hell, just... how?! And why?!_ I tried my best to not have a breakdown again, breathing in and out. _I don't even know anymore, anything is possible with this baby._ The remnants of green were sliding towards Reborn on the floor and coming together, transforming into the actual chameleon before going to Reborn's arms and turning into a gun. "Anyway, here it goes!"

"As if we would let you!" Mukuro said as Chikusa while going after Reborn, who jumped back to avoid being hit. In his original spot suddenly stood Gokudera with dynamite ready to be used.

Scowling, he looked straight at Chikusa with a glare. "I won't let you get in Reborn-san's way!" But as he was getting ready to attack, two other possessed bodies got to his sides, Ken included and he happened to have the trident head. "What?!"

"Your guard is down!" As that was said by Mukuro, Gokudera had been stabbed as I saw his shocked face before he lowered his head as if to cover his eyes like with Hibari. _Wait, it's only Tsuna now?!_

Bianchi and Hibari were trying to make sure that Reborn wouldn't shoot that bullet as somehow, Mukuro was very good with Hibari's tonfas. His eye also happened to have the number 2 on it instead of 6, making me suspect of his abilities. _Can he be as good as the bodies at something if possessing them?_ I dismissed that theory due to lack of evidence and saw that Reborn, being the obvious (ugh) professional that he was, completely dodged every attack and got a fair distance away from them, aiming his gun at Tsuna.

"Here it goes this time!" With the sound of a gunshot, I could already see us winning: a powered-up Tsuna could survive boulders so how could he not survive this? I had never felt so good while seeing Tsuna pass out, this time knowing that he wasn't going to die.

**. . .**

**. . .**

_Any time now, wake up..._

**. . .**

_Come on, wake up!_

**. . .**

"Why isn't he waking up?" I asked nervously, directing that question at basically everyone that I knew as Reborn could also have some sort of information. But after a while of that question being left hanging, I saw Tsuna's eyes opening slightly, not as powered up as I thought that he'd be.

_Well, at least it didn't actually kill him..._ I heard him mutter something, but I couldn't hear it well since I wasn't that close to him in comparison to Reborn, who had been walking towards Tsuna as I waited for him to wake up. "It looks like that's the effect of this special bullet. It sends real-time rebukes from the people that you know," Reborn explained, gathering that much from just this.

_Rebukes, huh... Wait, could he hear mine if I was giving one?_ My mind started to frantically search for some good rebuke to give but failing miserably, my powers of criticism not being that good.

_You could've done better, I guess. Be less clumsy and stuff... Being a wimp sucks too so stop being one._

_... I hope that he didn't hear that._ "I guess that I don't even have to voice my own rebuke, huh?" I noticed that Tsuna's eyes were now closed again and that a bit of time had passed while I was thinking of any rebukes for him, seeing as Reborn was probably responding to something that I didn't hear.

I saw him shiver a bit before opening his eyes all of a sudden, looking much more... fierce than before, if not a bit wild or even angry. If anything, it was a big difference from the normal Dying Will Mode in which he was very cool and calm about things, or at least he seemed like it.

_**"AAAAARGH, MUKURO!"**_

_What the hell?! Tsuna?!_ That was Tsuna, right?! He got up from the floor so fast that it took me a while to process it as I noticed that this bullet wouldn't rip off his clothes. _**"I have to defeat you at all costs or I will never die in peace!"**_ _So loud!_ This was a... new side of Tsuna, to say the least. But it was surely much more intense than before, in more ways than one.

Would that make him win though? "Oh? And what might this be now?" Mukuro asked, still looking amused.

... We were still being laughed at, even after Tsuna's obvious power-up that would also make him really loud. _Great, this is so motivating for me._ The worst part was the fact that Mukuro was probably reacting in such a way because that power-up was hard to take seriously, something that I would agree on. "Although it seems like your aura has indeed become more fierce, that is not enough to win against me."

_Aura? Is he talking about the flame that somehow doesn't burn Tsuna's forehead? That's a weird term for it but I guess Mukuro's all-around weird._ But then again, 'Dying Will Flame' wasn't the most normal of terms for it either, as literal as it probably was. **"That's where you're wrong!"** I couldn't even see him but I assumed that Tsuna moved from where he stood when he somehow saw (or maybe heard? I'm not sure) Ken charging at him from behind.

Ken stopped when he noticed this with analytical eyes scanning the room (how ironic that it was Ken of all people) quickly but Tsuna had been faster. "Gah!" With apparent great force, Tsuna had kicked him from behind, knocking him to the floor. _This power-up is awesome, we're gonna win!_ No wonder Reborn was so confident, if this was Tsuna's potential then he could kick even Hibari's ass (?) with ease.

It didn't look like he was standing up any time soon, making Tsuna turn to the other possessed bodies. When he did that, he was suddenly bombarded with... nothing, but the yo-yos (Chikusa uses yo-yos?!) were certainly up in the air. **"That's an illusion!"** _Oh, so Byakuran's actually doing his job this time..._ But how did Tsuna know, it's not like he had any sort of Holy Guidance to find that out.

"What is the meaning of this, he wasn't able to see through illusions before!" Mukuro muttered as Hibari, looking surprised; he was definitely running out of patience. _You didn't even see through Kyoko's illusions earlier so don't you dare talk as if you were that good._ But then again, maybe Kyoko was too good? If the first eye ability was the Path of Hell, he probably had very strong illusions.

Besides, he did say something about going through all Underworlds or something like that, but that was too unbelievable to process correctly... "That is an effect of the Rebuke Bullet: instead of bringing out the absolute determination to follow through his last wishes, it releases all of the limiters on his body and draws out his full fighting spirit; with it, 'the blood of Vongola' awakens." _Uh-huh... I'm supposed to take this seriously, right?_ "It's said that the First Vongola Boss only had the power to see through all, called Hyper Intuition; Tsuna has shown signs of it throughout all the battles that we went through."

_Now that he mentions it, Tsuna's pretty intuitive; so it's a mafia thing... I don't even want to know how that works._ I did see Tsuna being able to pick up on things that I could only pick up with the power of His Divine Presence so it was definitely true that he'd have some sort of weird (apparently hereditary) ability. _But wait, how does Reborn know of the effects of a bullet that he only tried out now, can he just assume everything with perfect accuracy from what he has observed?! He also knew that Tsuna would somehow hear rebukes in real time from being shot with that... what kind of genius is he?_

**. . .**

_Well, not a very smart one since he's explaining all of this to Mukuro; why would Tsuna need to know this stuff? It's not like he's in any condition to listen properly either..._ "Hyper Intuition? How amusing. Even if you can see through my attacks, you cannot win against me." _How would he not win if he can see through your attacks?! Just face it, you're done for!_ "After all, these are the bodies of your friends, would you hurt them?"

_Oh... Damn it, how is he gonna get around that?!_ "Would you?" Mukuro repeated (as the newly-possessed Gokudera), making Bianchi, Gokudera and Yamamoto get closer.

... I guess Tsuna didn't really care about Hibari or something like that because he was on stand-by mode. "Would you?" _We get the idea!_

**"I'd never do that!"** Tsuna shouted out, not helping the situation; that only meant that he wouldn't win! **"But I'll defeat you anyway!"** _You don't even have a plan, do you?_

That seemed more evident when he was getting punched in the face by Gokudera, kicked by Bianchi and pushed around by Yamamoto so that he wouldn't fall to the ground, somehow only looking around as this was going on. I mean, wouldn't he do something in this situation? It almost seemed like Tsuna was observing them despite the fierce look on his face, confusing me a bit.

He didn't even seem like he was capable of thinking beyond his instincts but maybe the power-up that he had wouldn't just make him go berserk? "What's wrong? Were you not going to defeat me?" Mukuro taunted as Yamamoto, making Tsuna's gaze locked on him before disappearing from the speed again. "Wha...?!" Those were Yamamoto's (Mukuro's) last words before being hit somewhere on his back (I couldn't see properly so I might be wrong), knocking him out.

Could it be like those techniques that knock someone out from one strike? But how would he know such a thing? "Hmph, so he intuitively saw a way to knock him unconscious," Reborn remarked, seemingly unaffected by the beating that Tsuna got a little while ago. _Can you even do that with your intuition?!_ If anything, I could only be ashamed of my own intuition since it had to rely on God.

"Do not fool with me, Arcobaleno; that would not be-" **"Now _you're_ the one with your guard down!"** As he said (more like shouted) that, he knocked out Bianchi who had been talking and Gokudera, dropping them off close to Reborn afterwards. **"Take care of them!"**

"Don't be so bossy all of a sudden," Reborn protested but seemingly not caring that much, watching as Tsuna came back to the area that he was fighting in even though he could've fought anywhere.

Meanwhile, I was pretty happy with these events. _That power-up is freaking awesome, we actually do have chances of winning! This is the best, I'll be able to go home!_ Technically, I could've gone home earlier but my conscience couldn't bear to leave people to suffer alone and I seemed to be in no risk of dying. **"Come at me already!"**

"Kufufu, don't get too confident just because you got rid of them!" Mukuro spoke as Hibari, making him charge to Tsuna with Chikusa following behind at a slower pace. Hibari's red eye had the kanji for 2 on it so he was probably planning on using Hibari's professional tonfa-wielding skills.

... How he ever got said skills was beyond me but I guess that he would probably need them for his super hero status. _Even Tsuna can seem more heroic than Hibari and he's wearing mittens- wait, he's wearing gloves?!_ It was actually more pathetic that I only noticed such a thing now since Tsuna already had them on for some time. _And they look pretty cool too... So _that's_ what Zakuro actually meant with it not being what it seems!_ After all, the fact that the mittens could defend against a trident was disproved when we found out that it was the bullet that protected him so this must've been what he was referring to.

Anyway, seeing as Mukuro had Hibari's super hero skills I could barely see his attacks aimed at Tsuna and Tsuna himself was struggling to dodge them even when in Rebuke Dying Will... Mode thing or whatever. "Oh? It seems like you don't want to attack this body. Kufufu, could he actually be one of your friends as well?" Mukuro asked as Chikusa in amusement, using his yo-yos (seriously, why yo-yos?) for a somewhat precise medium-range attack as the string would curve towards Tsuna.

Although Tsuna was able to dodge the yo-yos, it was certainly too late to dodge the tonfas. "Gwah!" Thrown to the floor by the power and strength of tonfas (somehow), Tsuna gaze focused on Chikusa and not Hibari as he quickly stood up, much to my surprise. Hibari (Mukuro) went over to kick Tsuna's ass but Tsuna was faster in getting close to Chikusa, punching him right in the face. **"That... was an illusion!"** _What?_ **"There you are!"**

He seemingly elbowed nothing as Chikusa faded away, Hibari trying to hit Tsuna but missing since Tsuna had moved behind whatever he had just hit and kicked it away: that happened to be the actual Chikusa, now on the floor with the yo-yos next to him in plain sight. _Can yo-yos really be effective weapons...?_ At least my father never talked to me about the inner workings of a yo-yo so I could assume that it wasn't the most popular of things to use in battle. **"Now you're the only one left!"**

"That does not mean that you'll be able to defeat me...!" With a really scary smirk, Hibari (Mukuro) only stood as his tonfas were suddenly covered in fire... very familiar purple fire, like the flames that made him fly before...

_You've got to be kidding me..._ "Zakuro-san, is Byakuran not making me see through illusions again?" I asked, having already been troubled by that one illusion of Chikusa that His Divine Presence didn't care to erase for me, giving those flaming tonfas a blank look; the handle was probably the only thing not in flames but the reason for that was fairly obvious.

"Byakuran-sama doesn't have to waste His powers on you if He doesn't want to, idjit." _So he can pretty much do whatever he wants, huh? Well, he is God but I'd expect him to do things all the way._ "It's not about doing things all the way, Byakuran-sama always has a reason for His actions." _Oh yeah, I can _definitely_ see the reason as to why He'd make me see Mukuro's illusion of flaming tonfas,_ I thought sarcastically, trying to see if the illusion would disappear since I had already figured out that it wasn't true. "What the hell are you even talking about? Those are Dying Will Flames, idjit!"

_What...? They're not an illusion? Wait, Dying Will Flames? Why would they be purple though, they're not the same color as Tsuna's; can they even make someone fly? He wasn't even shot either so why the hell would he have them?_ That train of thoughts only reached one conclusion: Hibari was a super hero therefore he could do anything.

_... That damned angel could tell what I was thinking again, am I that much of an open book?! Damn it!_ He didn't even bother answering the many questions in my mind about Dying Will Flames so I could guess that he somehow couldn't figure out what I was thinking then... or maybe he just didn't feel like answering, either one of them sounded plausible.

"Kufufufu, so this is the extent of his aura... I can see that if our fight hadn't been interrupted, there would surely be no clear winner," Mukuro stated, his words a bit surprising since I didn't think that he would acknowledge such a thing. _But still, I'm so glad that I stopped that battle, it would take ages if it went on!_ As I thought that I got a bit nervous considering the fact that it was all my fault.

... It was all for a good cause, okay? "Well then, this is where it truly ends for you, Tsunayoshi Sawada!" Mukuro proclaimed, charging towards Tsuna and already going for Tsuna's stomach with the flaming tonfas, thankfully not hitting him at all.

From there, Mukuro was going all out with Hibari's speed, making me only see flashes of purple in various directions and Tsuna's flickering flame as he was dodging them all somehow. Even though he still had the same look on his face, it was obvious that he was having a tough time with so many fast attacks; if one were to hit him, he would probably be more than just hurt, he could get burned. "What's wrong, Vongola? You're only defending from my attacks; could it be that you are reaching your limit?"

Throughout the whole time that he was in his Better-Dying Will Mode thing (BDWM?), Tsuna's expression had ranged from very angry, fierce or wild but after Mukuro had said that, a wide confident smile or maybe something akin to a smirk was clear on his face. _Tsuna...?_ I didn't think that Tsuna could make such an expression but I also didn't think that he could win so I was only being proved wrong on every account, for better or worse.

_**"Is that all you got?!"**_

Such taunting words only had more impact due to Tsuna being the one to say them, especially after the fact that he wasn't doing so well with Hibari's super hero powers. Mukuro seemed somewhat surprised as well, Hibari's eyes widening significantly. "Those are big words for someone that is currently losing...!" Mukuro retorted but Tsuna's smile (smirk?) remained while he dodged one of the tonfas and as the other was swooping down to hit his head, Tsuna gripped said flaming tonfa with his hand at just the right moment, shocking both me and Mukuro. "What...?!"

"If I get rid of these," Tsuna forcefully took the tonfa that he had in his hand away from Hibari (Mukuro) as he said that, **"it'll be the end of this fight!"** Throwing it far away, Tsuna's smile turned into yet another fierce expression as he easily (somehow) dodged an attack from Hibari's lone tonfa and quickly moved to the side to kick that tonfa from his hands.

_**"AAAAAH!"**_ With a very loud, almost ear-breaking battle cry Tsuna immediately moved behind him and with his hand flat, he hit Hibari in the back of his head and it was all over: Hibari was unconscious with no signs of waking up any time soon, just like the other bodies possessed by Mukuro.

**. . .**

... He did it. "H-He beat Mukuro! Hell yeah!" I celebrated and instinctively grabbed the closest thing next to me in joy: unfortunately, that happened to be Zakuro's arm yet again.

"Idjit, let go and pay attention!" Shaking me off again, Zakuro was glaring at Tsuna who in turn was staring intently at something. _Pay attention to what...? And it's not like I did it on purpose, damn it! It's not my fault that your arm is the closest thing I can grab!_ I would've been embarrassed but it simply wasn't the time for me to be like that as I was supposed to pay attention to something.

What that something was, I had no idea, but I had to pay attention to it. **"I know you're alive, Mukuro! Show yourself already!"** Tsuna shouted at where he was looking at, an area that happened to have lots of shadows.

... I looked to where Mukuro's corpse should've been only be horrified at the sight of normal, fragile wooden floor of this damned abandoned building and nothing else. That could only mean one thing: it wasn't over yet and Mukuro was still alive and well... sort of. Well, Tsuna would resurrect from being shot so I guess that it worked the same way for the Possession Bullet?

**. . .**

My first reaction was to shudder as I did not notice that the corpse was gone before, but the next reaction was _vastly_ different:

"Oh, come on!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

_"Kufufufu, so this is the extent of his Hibari..." - The strange land of Namimori, 2014_

I think this is the best mistake that I have ever made while writing, the rope joke doesn't even _compare_ XDD At least I got the best quote for the 50th chapter of the story, that's for sure; I wonder if I will ever top that.

Anyway, we're **one chapter away from ending the Kokuyo Arc,** we're so close! This chapter might not have been the strongest, but the hype is still on for me. Besides, I got to introduce the Hyper Dying Will Mode so now you can get that the Dying Will Mode was replaced with the Hyper Dying Will Mode ^^ It's pretty hard to write Tsuna in Dying Will Mode though, since it's very different from his actual personality: besides, he has to not just be focused on his dying wish but he has to be aware of everything as well, it's quite the contradiction!

But then again, that's kind of why I decided to do this: at least you'll know the exact mood of the battles to come since that's gonna be how Tsuna will act every time he gets into Hyper Dying Will Mode. He's pretty strong too, maybe stronger than how he would actually be in the show but I think that he'll need to be stronger if he's planning on surviving the Future Arc so yeah, I guess I should call it 'Natural Power Balancing' (NPB?).

By the way, you might not remember but damn, Mukuro flips his shit at the end of the Kokuyo Arc, he gets surprised and angry easily and lots of other stuff: it actually made this chapter difficult for me in that regard. I can only hope that I'm not treating Mukuro too poorly, that's really my biggest fear in this arc; he'll get badass moments, I promise!

Either way, look forward to the last chapter of the Kokuyo Arc? I know I am 8D


	47. Chapter 43

**First Words:**

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**L's Cappuccino - Really? I sometimes feel like maybe my responses are kind of in the way or something, especially when I'm responding here when I could do it by PM... I should probably do that but I dunno, it just feels like it's almost tradition to just respond to your reviews here since I did that all the time. I'm really glad that you think that way though since I'm always looking forward to your reviews (like, every time I update I just kinda stalk my story manager waiting for a review... X.X). And lol holy shizzle I got that thing wrong, thanks for pointing it out! That M rating shall never happen, my writing skills aren't good enough ^^' **

**As for the Vindice, they aren't really aware of the existence of Byakuran and the Funeral Wreaths: I mean, Byakuran could've made the Funeral Wreaths be involved in something but probably in a more indirect way than now seeing as he hid them so well in the Future Arc (in cannon). However, it would also not be really cool to show the Funeral Wreaths off to the Vindice so Zakuro would probably be out. That is a very good question though, seeing as Byakuran's goals can cross the Vindice's goals... but I won't say why since it spoils the Arcobaleno Representative Battle Arc ^^' One other thing is that this question actually reminded me to do something with the Vindice too, especially seeing as I would really like to write the Arcobaleno Representative Battle Arc as well; so yeah, thank you for that and also for adding it to your favorites ^^**

Pretty long response but anyway, this story got 4 favorites and 3 followers while I wasn't updating, that's awesome!

Like, am I the only one that's hyped? I finished the Kokuyo Arc, this is the Arc Finale! The only thing is that I'll have one or two 'epilogue' chapters after it but I'm basically done! This chapter is also the longest chapter but that's fitting of the final chapter of an arc so I'm not even mad! I'm not even mad at making this section too long for you ^^'! Hopefully I'll get the Varia Arc and the Future Arc done too, with some Daily Life separating them of course ^^ Whatever the case, I'll leave you to the fun facts.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Mukuro went through all the Paths of Reincarnation, right? And one of them is the Path of Heaven... So one could only wonder if he came across at least one of the Funeral Wreaths (^^ - Byakuran's expression as he thinks of this, especially because he's thinking of this);**

**\- This whole thing actually ended at around 7:30 to 40-something pm, making Observer-chan's complaints of being late_ very_ understandable; seeing as Tsuna and Reborn stayed longer than her, they probably came back the next day, no?  
**

Now enjoy! 8D

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**Chapter 43: The battle finally ends**

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From the shadows, Mukuro appeared in all his... weird hair... heterochromatic... deep purple (dark blue?) smudge on his forehead for some reason... glory.

When did he get that anyway? "I will acknowledge that your fighting senses have increased greatly; however, you surely must have noticed that there is one skill that I have yet to use." _Are you serious?! More?!_ So he used the kanji for 1, 2, 3, 4, 6... Skill 5 was left, even after all of this.

_Ugh, if only I actually knew which skill corresponded with what Path..._ If I did, I would've been able to know which one was left but I had no idea; it surely didn't help that I didn't hear much of their conversation on it before. "It is the most hideous and cruel of all Paths: the Path of Humans," Mukuro revealed, his smirk dropping as he said as if to make it clear that he really didn't like the Path of Humans.

_Wow, are you serious? Your life must've been pretty depressing because I sure like the Human Path that I'm taking and I don't wanna leave it… for now._ Well, if he was murdering a ton of people while he was a child then it was pretty obvious that his life was not the best. "I am not being ironic: that is why I hate this world and this skill as well; if possible, I would never use it."

_Then don't, just get your ass kicked already!_ How long would Tsuna's Better Mode last anyway? "This skill is truly the most hideous..." The hand that wasn't holding the staff that he seemingly got out of nowhere (seriously, where did he get that from?!) was slowly moving over his red eye, his fingers reaching dangerously close to the eye as if he was going to deliberately stab through it with them (not literally), something that no sane person would ever do.

... Of course, he obviously did what no sane person would ever do and I felt it well. My eye almost hurt from just watching so I winced and closed my eyes to focus on something else in my mind, whatever that happened to be. "And also the most dangerous of them all...!"

Although I was still hesitant, I opened my eyes without much thought to see what was even happening. Not only was Mukuro bleeding badly from his eye that now had the kanji for five written in white but whatever the dark blue thing was at first, it had also spread to cover at least a third of him while some scale-like things surged on the opposite side for some reason. _Okay... but what the hell is that supposed to do against Tsuna?_

If anything, it did something against Mukuro: making him uglier. Besides, the maniacal smirk did not at all help with the situation; were we supposed to be in awe of his great power? If so... it kind of worked because I started to feel awful, even frightened from what surrounded his presence: it was some sort of (dark) light of almost the same color as part of his skin except that it was much darker, almost as if black.

It seemed like Tsuna could see it too, looking shocked; due to his Better Mode (seems easier to memorize than BDWM) though, said emotion seemed much more extreme than what it probably was but it was still surprise at its finest. "What an ugly aura," Reborn commented, not as disgusted as I'd expect from someone that would say such a thing. Well, I couldn't help but agree with him on that one though, it was pretty ugly. _Why's Reborn calling it an aura, wasn't Mukuro referring to Dying Will Flames as that too? Then what _is_ an aura, I'm pretty sure that's not a Dying Will Flame._

"Do you see it?" Judging by what Mukuro had said, that aura thing could only be seen by a few people; since I doubt that a person like me (a normal person) could ever see it naturally, I could at least assume that His Divine Presence was involved with that. "For warriors that emit an aura and fight, the size of their aura is equal to their strength!"

Unable to focus due to the seemingly sinister aura thing, Mukuro got to hit him right in the stomach with a swing of his staff (could it be part of the trident, without the head?), knocking Tsuna back. **"Guh!"** He didn't fall however, but he looked pretty surprised and angry at the same time. _Wait, didn't we already address the issue of only a few people being able to see auras or Dying Will Flame things or whatever? Besides, what Mukuro has doesn't look like one, so they're different but they can't be seen by everyone? This is all weird._

Before I could even process it, Mukuro was dangerously close to Tsuna, hitting him again. This time, the strength of that attack had seemingly increased as it knocked him to the floor, although Tsuna was definitely not in a weak enough state to not dodge the jab aimed at him with Mukuro's staff (so that was why the head was detached...), rolling to the side.

Tsuna quickly stood up and jumped back as if to make sure that he would not get immediately attacked, making loud noises every time he would do such movements as if they were that intense: to be fair, the Better Mode thing was characterized by its intensity so it was natural of him to do such things, or so I assumed. "If you're getting serious," Tsuna stated (more like exclaimed) bringing his gloved hands to his forehead, which happened to have a flame on it, **"then so will I!"** Removing them from there, it seemed like the gloves caught on fire, making me realize on what he was planning on doing.

_Oh, like Hibari and his tonfas! Except that a normal person wearing normal gloves would burn themselves if they did that..._ "Hmph, you're starting to get it; the X-Gloves are made from the same material as Dying Will Bullets: after all, they both came from Leon. That's why it can light Dying Will flames," Reborn explained even though that explanation was fairly unnecessary: I could connect the dots, as nonsensical as they were. I mean, since when could a chameleon produce those kinds of things? Would the similarity in materials really make a resistance to Dying Will Flames?

Whatever the case, it was an advantage so it was welcome here. "Kufufu, it's almost as if you want to seem stronger than what you actually are." Mukuro's words were doubtful as Tsuna seemed pretty serious about what he was doing: there was simply no way that he was tricking anyone.

... Or maybe he was? Nah, there was really no way that he was doing that. Besides, I'm pretty sure that flaming blows hurt more than normal ones, no matter how you look at it. "But simply changing the shape of your aura is a meaningless effort," Mukuro said, smirking confidently.

**"The Dying Will Flame isn't an aura!"** Tsuna exclaimed, almost as if thinking that he would prove his point if he said it loud enough or maybe because he was somewhat tired of seeing Mukuro refer to it as an aura.

To this, Mukuro looked curiously yet in an amused, if not mocking fashion as he uttered, "Oh?" It was as if he sought for a response, knowing that it would entertain him to hear it.

Speaking of a response...

**. . .**

**. . .**

I stared at Zakuro intently in a mix between a blank look and a glare, also seeking for a response. "Zakuro-saaan," I called while purposely dragging that damned honorific because I did not feel like being respectful in any way towards an angel like him. Honestly, it was almost annoying that I would constantly have to call for him to get my answers, and I wasn't even sure if I'd get the latter. "Didn't you say that the Dying Will Flame could only be seen because Byakuran wanted me to? So isn't it supposed to be an aura since it can't be seen by everyone?! They're supposed to be the same thing, right?!"

"I never said anything about Dying Will Flames: you only asked for the reason why you could see things that others couldn't, idjit." _You damned bastard..._ At least it confirmed my suspicions of the Dying Will Flames not being auras like Mukuro said, so they weren't put in the same category. But then again, by asking those questions to Zakuro I was already assuming that only auras worked that way, which they probably did.

In other words, Mukuro was the one that made everything confusing! "The difference in energy density between an aura and the Dying Will Flame is too great. Unlike an aura which can only be seen by a select few people," I glanced at Zakuro as Reborn continued, "the Dying Will Flame has developed its own destructive properties: it's super condensed energy." That explanation from Reborn proved useful as it cleared up on what an aura was and the difference between them, something that Zakuro had (begrudgingly) failed to do for me.

... Well, except for one thing. _Wait, if it has its own destructive properties which I'm assuming it means that it can burn stuff, then how the hell is it not burning Tsuna's forehead?! I mean, it's burning on his freaking forehead, it's right there! Are you telling me that it does nothing to his head?! It should be already melting by this point, how is Tsuna still alive?! But then again, he did get shot more than once and survived... Is everyone here immortal or what?!_ Somehow, I had a straight face throughout that whole mental rant. _But Reborn sure takes his time to explain everything, is it because he's a home tutor or whatever?_

Honestly, I would never understand why Reborn would always be explaining everything, even when it wasn't necessary; did he think that we were that stupid? Besides, Mukuro could hear him explain stuff as well so he would get that information, how could it be beneficial? "I see, so those gloves can burn as well? Kufufufu, you truly say the most interesting of things," Mukuro remarked, still amused as if he was unconvinced. "Then show me!"

Quickly reaching Tsuna, Mukuro tried to hit him but that blow was blocked with Tsuna's hands as they actually managed to bend the handle of the trident (since it apparently was not a staff) with the heat of the Dying Will Flames on his gloves. "What...?!" Mukuro seemed shocked, if not somewhat outraged as his weapon (or part of it?) was taken from him and thrown away by the sheer power that Tsuna had gained with his awesome power-up.

With another battle cry, Tsuna had aimed a punch of definite strength at Mukuro that hit with all certainty, sending him far off to the point of reaching close to our (Zakuro and I) area; because of that, we stepped back, our faces looking equally troubled.

... How I wish I had no similarities with this angel. Unfortunately, Mukuro was still not out cold, raising only the upper half of his body, only to just stare off thoughtfully yet in a very serious way, seemingly angry and still somewhat surprised. "What was that...? What did he do...?" It was almost as if his elegant and dignified behavior was crumbling apart with his losses, muttering that to himself at an audible volume.

Tsuna's eyes narrowed (slightly) as he stared down at Mukuro who had promptly noticed this and gave the first scowl that I had ever seen on his face, only for it to fade somewhat and turn into an amused expression; he recomposed himself, I noted. Laughing along the lines of, "Kuhahahaha!" which was arguably a pretty strange way of laughing, he smiled in a satisfied manner as he looked at mainly Reborn and Tsuna... not that I would want him looking at me now. "This was quite the fortunate miscalculation on my part, I see. With your body, I can simply attack other families directly and cause a war within the mafia."

"So that's your goal." This seemed to be one of those times where Reborn was looking pretty serious, and that wasn't surprising to me considering what Mukuro had just said. _Did he just reveal all of his plans to Tsuna and Reborn or is this just a joke?_ Besides, there was still the problem of why he had such motivations in the first place, something that currently no one had answers for.

Honestly, I would be fine without knowing that and just kicking his ass but it was still something to wonder about when there was nothing else for you to do, kind of like my situation. I mean, I could've tried to interfere but Zakuro wasn't going to kill anything (much to his dismay...) and I could barely do anything even close to kicking someone's ass in fights so there was no real choice but to just stand around and watch Tsuna.

"Oh no, I am not that simple-minded," Mukuro denied much to my surprise as he continued speaking, "I also plan on possessing the bodies of every male celebrity or boy band with a sizable girl fanbase, one that would surely obey my every command." The worst part with all of that was probably the confident smirk on his face, suggesting that he was serious. "With such capable armies in my control, I will paint this world in pure and beautiful darkness: in other words, Eternal Fangirl Wars... or was that too unexpected of me?"

**. . .**

_... I have no words._ Even Tsuna and Reborn seemed to have no words although the latter didn't seem that surprised somehow. I gave Zakuro a questioning look that was only answered with a shrug: even the angel had no words! _Is he really serious...? I mean, is this just a big joke, am I being pranked right now?_ It was simply too much nonsense for it to actually stick in my brain as 'truth'.

_Seriously, his plan is to control fangirls with the bodies of male celebrities and make eternal Fangirl Wars, how is this guy even a threat to us?! What's his talk about darkness though, does he just mean that he'll 'paint' the world with the chaos that he likes or something? Honestly, I don't even want to know..._ Deciphering stupidity would only cause me headaches so I decided to leave it aside and only bring it up when it started to make slightly more sense.

... Not that I had any confidence in that ever making sense. "But, there is no doubt that I will start with the mafia: it will be eradicated...!" Somehow, that sounded more dramatic than it should've and the sentence was already supposed to sound dramatic to begin with. The fact that he wasn't even smirking anymore just from having said that could only add to the dramatic effect, making everything look and sound even more ridiculous than it already was._ What do fangirls have to do with the mafia? He can't just be seeking to have Fangirl armies and wanting to get rid of the mafia for no reason!_

... Meanwhile, Tsuna's Better Mode seemed to have no time limit and I was not complaining. Tsuna's eyes were locked in Mukuro's as they both charged; Mukuro still had no weapon so I had no idea on how he would ever manage to win. Whatever the case, it seemed like he did know what he was doing as he readied himself to shield off Tsuna's attack... which didn't actually get shielded at all.

**"What?!"** Tsuna voiced my surprise as Mukuro wasn't even close to him at all, let alone trying to defend his fiery blows. We both looked around but Tsuna was the first one to lock on to Mukuro with a relentless gaze, having somehow found him right away.

_Wait, why is he next to- Oh no..._ As I noticed that he was near the bodies of Chikusa and Ken, I remembered that the trident head had been on that location. Unfortunately, it wasn't there anymore; instead, that trident head was in Mukuro's hand, ready to stab anyone at any moment. "Why won't this end...?!" I whined as I resigned to lying on the floor with Zakuro.

"I want to go back to Heaven already, idjit..." A gloomy presence surrounded Zakuro and I, one that anyone could feel at a distance.

We didn't really care about how bad our mood was right now though, and everyone else (only Reborn!) was focused on Tsuna and Mukuro. Honestly, even I would raise my head from the cold and old floor to check on them properly, the stakes of their battle being way too high for me. "Hmph, you let your guard down, No-Good-Tsuna," Reborn remarked, seemingly unaffected by Mukuro's actions.

"Indeed, Vongola...! This will be your end!" Mukuro exclaimed, still inexplicably sounding elegant all the way through, even with the slight hint of frustration in his voice.

**"Never!"** Tsuna fiercely shouted and they quickly reached each other to attack: Mukuro trying to stab Tsuna and Tsuna trying to take that trident head away yet again. But, while Mukuro did seem like he was trying pretty hard to stab Tsuna, all of his attempts were being swiftly dodged by him, much to his now visible frustration.

... Seeing someone else being frustrated from a seemingly never-ending situation had never been so satisfying to watch. "Zakuro-saa-" "Just call me Zakuro, idjit! What else would you want to ask me anyway?" It was also fairly amusing to piss Zakuro off by purposely calling him 'Zakuro-san' and dragging it out as much as I could. I mean, in a situation like this, you take all the entertainment you can get.

"I just wanted to ask why you're still here since this battle is basically over and there's no way that anyone would be targeting me now, so it's kind of weird that you haven't gone away yet," I answered with a disinterested expression, only curious because his presence was beginning to truly bother me.

_But then again, he's probably gonna say something like 'It's Byakuran-sama's will' or whatever..._ "As long as Byakuran-sama wants me here, I'll have to stay, idjit." _Close enough..._ Even so, Zakuro sounded bored and even troubled despite his loyalty to Byakuran; as expected, he was probably not happy with this, even if it was order from His Divine Presence.

... Honestly, I could perfectly understand that, seeing as it was also His fault that I was here in the first place. "But don't you want to leave or anything? I'm pretty sure you'd want to do something more exciting than protecting someone with no importance to anything here, and I'm sure Byakuran's a benevolent enough God to forgive you," I insisted to test Zakuro's loyalty to His Divine Presence, having little knowledge on what said deity had planned for me which frustrated my mind to no end; God or not, he was still immensely untrustworthy.

"What the hell do you think you're suggesting? Byakuran-sama's orders are absolute." Those words were so serious that they startled me, momentarily distracting me from Tsuna's direct hit on Mukuro and Mukuro's retaliation by having somehow been able to grab his arm to most likely forcefully break it. _Byakuran's orders are absolute? Why are they so important when you looked so bothered by them?_ I thought emotionally as I was affected by the tone of what Zakuro had said.

My eyes narrowed in suspicion as I automatically dismissed the more sensitive part of me, this topic being that important. _Byakuran probably created them, being God and all, but haven't they ever gone against him? If that's the case then I doubt that I'll ever get something crucial about Byakuran by asking my Holy Protection._ "You better not have anything else to ask, idjit; it looks like they're almost over too."

Zakuro's now not as serious words made me focus on Tsuna and Mukuro again, feeling a bit lost on what they were doing. It at least seemed like Tsuna's arm did not end up broken and Mukuro was still having a tough time with Tsuna which was good for me. "You are incredibly persistent, Vongola. Seriously, I have yet to understand why you don't just hand over your body to me; there is simply no hope for you...!"

**"That's what you say, but I will never give up!"**

"Your determination is futile, you are ignorant to think that such an emotion can carry you so far!"

**"It's not useless!** It's not useless because I..." Elbowing Mukuro in the stomach, Tsuna was able to grasp the arm that was wielding the trident, much to Mukuro's visible surprise. That hand actually had no flames, I noted, as Tsuna quickly raised his other hand high, the one that was still flaming. Mukuro's faltering and Tsuna's pressure on his arm made him have no choice but to let go of the trident head, looking truly resentful for the first time.

Despite how accurately I could describe it, everything went by at a frighteningly fast pace. I was only able to see it so clearly because I was so intently focused on it, unlike Hibari's fight with Mukuro that seemed to have no end at the time: this one was ending, and it was ending here!

_**"... I'm defeating you right now!"**_ A battle cry and a very loud scream of pain were heard simultaneously but from different sources, much to my mix of shock and bliss when processing that the latter came from Mukuro. Tsuna's flaming hand, much stronger than before, had been forcefully pressed onto Mukuro's face, pushing him down to the floor from the sheer force of it.

One would call it... a _flaming_ facepalm.

... Actually, I think _I_ should be the one to facepalm right now. Anyway, it also seemed to be 'purifying' the awful aura that Mukuro had possessed before and the awful dark blue (or purple?) smudges were somehow removed. _What is this, an exorcism?_ Tsuna, who had been kneeled this whole time because Mukuro was on the floor, finally stood up as his flames were extinguishing which meant that his Better Dying Will Mode or whatever was gone.

_It's over... It's over, right? I'm not being tricked again, right?_ "It's over." Almost as if he had read my thoughts, Reborn had declared that in a far too simple manner for my peace of mind (which was practically nonexistent).

Because of that, I had yet to believe him as I stared at Zakuro. "Hey, it's over, right? Right?" I asked, sounding somewhat desperate as I did so.

"Can't you tell by looking at his condition? There's no way he's standing up again, idjit." With these words, I immediately jumped from the floor and stood once more, except that I was very happy instead.

I raised my hands in cheer slowly, being far too tired from this far too long day to properly congratulate myself for such endurance. "It's over...! Yes! It's finally over!" I would fall to the floor again but I was too determined to go home to ever do such a thing so I was still up. "I can go home...!"

Tsuna glanced at me with a slightly happier expression and I could swear that I heard him mutter my name; did I lighten up the mood or something of the sort? That was never one of my strong points so it was difficult to consider that option.

Apparently, that change in mood had been short-lived as Tsuna focused on Mukuro yet again. "Will he also be okay?"_ How can you even ask that?!_ I thought, finding it far too forgiving that he was able to still treat him in such a way. If it was me, I would've left him there and I don't think I lack mercy at all.

Before anything could be said though, I heard a voice that I didn't think I would hear again, "Don't you dare get any closer to him!" It was Ken's voice, one that made me glare at Zakuro as if prompting him for an explanation.

"What now? It's not like they can do anything either, idjit. Look at them, they can't even walk!" As Zakuro had said, Ken and Chikusa couldn't even stand up so they were desperately crawling towards Tsuna as if that would ever do anything.

_What do they want anyway?_ "Why, why are you going so far for Mukuro?" That was a good question from Tsuna, one that I wish I had asked in my mind as well. After all, Mukuro didn't seem to have any qualities that would attract people to him. If anything, only people who were that bloodthirsty would join his cause.

"Hmph, you mafia don't understand! You don't understand the suffering that we've been through...!" Seeing them crawl with all their might was more pitiful than anything, even after having suffered because of them; Ken's words only added to that feeling. _What suffering? If anything, Lanchia was the one that suffered because of him._

I mean, if having to commit mass murder to what you considered to be your family wasn't painful then I didn't know what was. With that in mind, it was hard to trust Ken even when he was in such a state. "What happened to you then? What makes you hate the mafia so much?" Reborn asked, his tone serious as he for some reason had interest in knowing about them.

Could it be because of that whole forbidden bullet stuff? If that was the case, then it would make a whole lot of sense for him to actually care. "We were used as guinea pigs by our own family." _Huh?_

"So you really are from the Estraneo Family, the developers of the Possession bullet." Both Tsuna and I were pretty surprised with this information and seeing Reborn unfazed was even worse; I mean, it certainly lowers my self-esteem when a baby is mentally stronger than me, right?

But then again, that baby was a professional assassin so maybe it was too harsh of me to ever compare myself with that. "You only made it forbidden for your convenience! Because of that, the leaders got desperate and tried to make new weapons to survive; for that, the children of the family were gathered to be experimented on. Those cruel days of experiments, with no way of escape... Until that day, the day where he had completely destroyed that reality!"

Although Ken's story was indeed somewhat saddening, I had yet to feel truly sorry for any of them after having gone through so much. Meanwhile, Tsuna did seem to be feeling sad for them; Tsuna was a very sensitive person, I noted. "He had always been quiet and didn't draw too much attention, except with the girls: they were always all over him so none of us boys could ever think of talking to him even once. They were so obsessed that they went berserk and were able to release him that day, sacrificing their lives and killing those that were in the same room that he was in."

_Wait what?_ Tsuna seemed to be absorbed in the tragic part of the story, not even blankly staring at Ken like I was due to how ridiculous it was becoming. "I think that was also the first time that I heard him speak too: 'Those kinds of foolish girls are like mindless minions; they are truly fit to become my loyal army. How about you, will you join me as I erase this pitiful world from existence?' That was when, for the first time in our lives, we had finally found our place to be; we won't just let you destroy it like this!"

_No no no, I think you should've been creeped out by his words instead, I'm pretty sure that's what any normal person would do! Just what the hell is wrong with these people?!_ Meanwhile, Tsuna was still emotionally affected by Ken's backstory despite the amount of nonsense spewed amidst it: the worst part of it is the fact that Ken was probably not lying. "But... But I also can't just sit and watch you hurt my friends because they're my place to be!"

That seemed to silence Ken which didn't surprise me since those words were definitely powerful ones, and Tsuna did have a point: I wouldn't also just let them do whatever they want for their place to be if it was hurting mine... as strange as the term 'place to be' was for this kind of discussion.

Suddenly, mist was coming from the door to this room, revealing mysterious cloaked people wearing top hats and wielding chains but that wasn't even the creepiest part: they were also completely bandaged, their eyes not even showing; it was questionable on how they could even see. "Ah, the medical team!" Tsuna exclaimed but as he took a better look at them, he quickly noticed that they certainly weren't anything similar to doctors.

_Uh... What are _they_ supposed to be?_ That question had become an even more difficult one to answer as they had somehow quickly bound Chikusa, Ken and Mukuro from their necks with their chains as they pulled them towards them. "Uuuh, Zakuro- Wait, Zakuro? Zakuro?" My awkward stare had been replaced with a surprised one as I noticed that Zakuro was nowhere to be seen, disappearing without warning just like Bluebell. _He's gone? He was here the whole time but now he disappears? He could've at least stuck around to give me one last explanation on this!_

"Hey, wait a-" "Don't, Tsuna; they're not people you can deal with." Meanwhile, Reborn had cut Tsuna off, almost as if the ones that were slowly leaving were that dangerous. "They're the Vindice: they punish those that can't be punished by law. No one knows how they came to exist in the first place but they also like to be as edgy as possible, as you can see."

_I don't even want to know..._ When they were out of sight, the mist had also faded away and replacing it were people that actually seemed like doctors this time, greatly relieving Tsuna. "Look, Vongola's medical team finally arrived; it looks like Lanchia'll make it," Reborn pointed out, making Tsuna look even happier than before.

... Until he suddenly seemed like he was in great pain. "Ow, ow ow ow ow!" His body was wildly contorting from the pain, confusing me as there was seemingly no reason for such a thing to happen. _What's up with him?_

As the doctors were taking the various bodies away to presumably treat them all, Reborn explained, "That's a side effect of the Rebuke Bullet: fighting with it is very hard on your body so after it's over, the stress comes back to you as pain." He seemed far too calm when Tsuna was in such pain but that wasn't even surprising anymore judging by how Reborn always acts.

"What?! Aaa-" Before he could say anything else, he had passed out, presumably from how painful it was. _Okay, I do _not_ want to be shot with that bullet..._ Well, not that there was any chance of that ever happening to me since Reborn did mention that it was for people with the 'Vongola Blood' or whatever.

"Hmph, so you passed out from the pain; you've really got a long way to go..." Reborn remarked as he got closer to him and stopped when he was right next to his body as he stared at me. "So, how about you tell me about that other companion of yours?" I visibly tensed from that question, having hoped that I would never be confronted with it.

_Ugh, it's not like I can tell you that they're angels from Heaven or anything!_ "Well, I don't know much about them myself. It looks like they're acting as my bodyguards for some reason, but I still don't know why they're doing it since I'm not really anything special." Those words were the truth but I definitely could've said more than that.

Despite how weird Reborn is in the first place, it would still be impossible for him to ever believe the full story so I wasn't even going to try. "So they're hiding things from you too, huh? You should be careful then, they might turn on you later," Reborn warned even though he didn't seem that serious; if anything, he seemed like he was thinking about something yet amused at the prospect that my Holy Protection was indeed hiding things from me.

"I'll keep that in mind," I awkwardly said, finding nothing else to truly say after having to keep secrets from someone like him: despite being a baby, he sure was intimidating.

Reborn smirked at my response, almost as if he could sense how awkward I was feeling. "Didn't you want to go home? You don't have to worry about Tsuna here so you're better off hurrying up before it gets dark; your parents are gonna worry about you." Even if he said that, it almost seemed like he was teasing me instead of actually worrying: was he treating me like a child despite him being a child himself? What a paradox...

"And if you feel up to it, you can tell me everything else later. See ya," he casually said goodbye and it seemed like he had fallen asleep before any response from me right after that... or so I assumed, since he had his eyes open: how could he sleep like that? _Wait, 'everything else'? What else is there... He knows that I didn't say everything, that damned baby! How did he figure it out anyway?! I even said the truth so he wouldn't suspect a thing!_

_He's good..._ I concluded in awe, staring at him for a while as he slept by Tsuna, leaning on him like a pillow.

**. . .**

_Anyway, gotta get home!_ After all, I wouldn't want to have my mother worry about me so I turned around and exited the room as fast as I could, running all the way. There were no illusions, no dangerous people, it was just me running around freely with no danger beyond maybe tripping on loose floorboards: it would've honestly felt good if not for the pressure put on me to not get home too late.

... Actually, scratch that: it did feel really good, even with such pressure. _It's over! I'm safe! I can go home! Everyone's alive too...!_ I even giggled as I thought that, followed by a coughing fit as I was getting somewhat tired and my good mood wasn't helping me physically.

Even so, it was all over and that was all I could ask for at the moment. _Now to get home and willingly get screwed over by my mother for arriving so late..._

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

And so ends the Arc Finale! Like, can you believe it? I got through the whole Arc in 30-something chapters! That's way too much... But, you can at least say that this was the most complete AU re-write of the Kokuyo Arc ever! ^^'

Seriously though, I made Tsuna say Observer-chan's name and didn't even reveal it, I'm such a tease~ XD Like, 'I could swear he muttered my name' that's because he did mutter your name, Observer-chan, seeing as I literally could only come up with that reaction from Tsuna. However, I don't want to reveal her name so I had to do that; it's not like Observer-chan's name is that important or that she's actually a cannon character in disguise, it's simply because I feel like her name should only be revealed at a certain point in the story for dramatic effect: if you want a better answer, I guess it's to add more epic-ness to her characterization but you don't need to know that yet.

Anyway, have you noticed that the Path of Humans is literally the least dangerous of them all? I mean, the first path makes illusions, the second one copies the moves of the people possessed by him, the third summons rabid dogs or snakes, the fourth gives him a bit of a power-up and a flame on his eye, the sixth makes you possess more people but the fifth only makes him uglier and with this super dark and awful aura thing: that skill does nothing! XD

Like, Mukuro's motivation was to 'plunge the world in pure and beautiful darkness' by starting a bunch of World Wars and since that barely fits in, I decided to add it to his new motivation as well for that exact reason; I do hope that it worked out well. To be very honest, writing this Mukuro's motivation was very painful to me... XDD The fact that I tied fangirls to his backstory was also amazing in more ways than one, and I laughed a lot as I wrote it.

One thing that you should be sure of is that I will be combining stuff from the manga and anime for the convenience of this story so don't be surprised when I suddenly pull something from the manga in this fic since I'll probably do it sometimes.

Whatever the case, look forward to the next chapter? I mean, this is not over yet since we still have stuff like the Varia Arc and the Future Arc! ^^


	48. Chapter 44

**First Words:**

* * *

**Guestsk - It's alright ^^ Although it is true that I was kind of hopefully waiting for your review, it's also pretty understandable that you can't guess when I've updated because you don't have an account; if anything, I'm sorry for not having a schedule ;_; You read through the previous chapters, no? I could've used some thoughts on them beyond the apology but I guess I'll just patiently wait for opinions on future chapters.**

Anyway, this chapter basically marks the official end of the Kokuyo Arc and honestly, I would've wanted it to be more interesting than this: I guess the second part would be kinda entertaining but I wanted some more comedy. Putting that aside, there will be the Daily Life Arc again after this chapter so it'll be kind of like the first chapters, isn't that awesome? I'm certainly looking forward to them. After the Daily Life, there'll be the Varia Arc too and I will have a lot of changes done there, trust me. Besides that, it'll also be the silliest one out of the whole story, but I won't tell you why ;D

**Fun Facts:**

**\- This fact's related to the last chapter but you might've been asking how Lanchia could've made it if it took that long to kick Mukuro's ass: well, that's because everything was basically delayed with the HFW I; Tsuna and the others were able to have that picnic and everything so Observer-chan met up with them and they all saw Lanchia much later than they did in cannon which doesn't make it too late for Lanchia to survive after the fight with Mukuro. Besides, the medical team had arrived slightly earlier than the end of Tsuna's fight with Mukuro so Lanchia was treated sooner;**

**\- Observer-chan's father had actually been awake, and he was able to hear the conversation from another room of the house: he just didn't step in at the time. Instead, he talked with Observer-chan about it the next day; that's usually how he works.  
**

Anyway, enjoy? ;_;

* * *

**Chapter 44: In which being called to Heaven left me with no useful information whatsoever**

* * *

One thing that I found out as I gasped for air close to my home was that one could not simply run from Kokuyo to Namimori, at least without taking breaks: I took many but I was still foolish enough to run the whole way when I was already tired. But then again, who could blame me? It would certainly be strange for me not to be happy for having gotten out of an awful situation alive, especially without showing said happiness.

Besides, that running did make for a good work-out. "I'm back...!" I closed the front door while panting as I exclaimed that, hoping that it was loud enough to at least be heard by my mother.

... And by hearing running footsteps, I could assume that she did. "Mom!" I ran towards her when I saw her and hugged her immediately, finding that it did help me recover my mental strength.

She pulled away though, not that it surprised me judging by how late I was. "Where were you all this time?! Didn't I tell you to at least call me when you go somewhere until this late in the night? What if something happened to you while you were out?! We wouldn't know a thing!" My mother was understandably scolding me out of worry for my well-being, looking somewhat angry yet not as much as you'd expect.

As she stared at me as if to check on my condition, she suddenly looked very surprised for some reason. I was only very tired from all that running so what was that shocking to her? "Where did you hurt your arm like that?" I cursed myself for flinching in front of my mother when I was reminded of my arm: it admittedly would still hurt if I moved it too strongly (stretching was out of the question) but it wasn't in that bad of a state now. "Don't tell me something really happened to you..."

"No, mom, that's not it!" I immediately denied without a thought, my mind desperately searching for a good lie to tell my mother. "I was hanging out at Kyoko-chan's house and some kids from the neighbourhood accidentally broke a window with their baseball; I happened to be there so I got cut with a shard. At least they had a first-aid kit so this wound's basically treated."

_Nice! This lie's actually good for once!_ Even so, my mother still didn't look totally convinced with it, her thoughtful expression making me fear the worse. "If that's what happened then why didn't you call me? You were never that forgetful and there's no reason you couldn't have done that," my mother insisted almost as if she could tell that something was not right with what I said, even though it was a perfectly plausible scenario.

"Well, it happens sometimes and this is one of them. Besides, my arm was hurting so badly that I don't think I'd be able to remind myself of that." _Sorry mom, but what I've been through is too ridiculous for you to actually believe it!_ If anything, I actually wanted to tell everything to my mother but I wasn't even sure if His Divine Presence was okay with that and I didn't want to risk it.

I mean, He _was_ God so I'm pretty sure that my precautions were understandable.

**. . .**

"... If that's really it, then fine. Since you were at your friend's house until now, I can assume you had dinner there so you should just get your schoolbag ready for tomorrow and sleep for now." _What...?!_ I could almost hear my belly rumbling in anger at the fact that I wasn't going to get anything to eat, especially because the last thing I ate was my breakfast. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to do as she said or I'd be suspected of lying, which was what I did but I naturally didn't want her to know that.

Pretending to be feeling somewhat normal now, I said, "I guess I should, huh? Well, good night, mom." As much as I wanted something to eat, I had to admit that it was very late: even if I was running all the way here, the breaks that I took were pretty long since I was so tired; I might as well have walked since I could've gotten here at the same hour. Checking my cellphone, I found that it was 9:48 pm and sighed, turned around and walked upstairs.

_Wait, don't I still have the lunch I was supposed to eat at school?_ With those thoughts, I smirked as I went upstairs at a faster pace, fully prepared to do something I wasn't supposed to do...

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

I was surprisingly able to fall asleep pretty fast even after eating that lunch, but I found myself strangely concious. I also happened to be on the floor: the cold, white... _Wait...!_

"So you finally noticed? You're in Heaven again." I immediately stood up to glare at the deity before me, having many things to talk to him about. _Byakuran, you bastard! You made me get involved with the mafia of all things! Why did I have to watch all that?! There was literally nothing that I could do there, so why send me?! Why did you want me to see that anyway?! _**_Answer me!_**

Despite the intensity of my thoughts, His Divine Presence was still smiling like before; it was honestly very frustrating for me. "Even if I didn't tell you anything, you would've ended up going there anyway: I only guided you to the best route. Without me, you would've probably died midway," He cheerfully said, pissing me off further since he was talking about my life so casually with that kind of smile on his face. _What do you mean with _that?!

"I mean exactly what I said: you would've died if not for your Holy Protection. But that's something of the past, don't you think so? For now, you should worry about what's ahead of you." _And what _is_ ahead of me?_ "That's what you'll find out when you get there. After all, I'm not going to be the one telling you what you need to know this time." _But you never tell me what I need to know..._ "You're confusing what you want to know with what you need to know and that's no good! For example, you _want_ to know who will be giving you information this time but I won't tell you because you don't _need_ to know: simple, right?"

_The 'ignorance is bliss' thing again, huh?_ "Yup! It's good that you understand things fast~." Honestly, His Divine Presence's 'compliment' didn't feel like a compliment to me at all; if anything, it demotivated me. Despite this being Heaven, I always felt like I wasn't safe at all, especially with His Divine Presence as the one watching over me: the fact that He wouldn't answer most of my questions made me even more uneasy around him and Reborn did warn me that I could get backstabbed by him one day. "Hmm~? So you think I might betray you?"

_Damn it, he can hear my thoughts!_ "You can't hide anything from God: I thought you learned that already but I guess you can be forgetful sometimes, right? At least that's what you had to tell your mother." _Don't you even go there, that was your fault!_ "Putting the blame on others is bad for you~." _I give up..._ I found that arguing with God would mostly lead to this result, much to my dismay. "Good~!" The fact that he found that to be a good thing would especially anger me: despite his seemingly cheerful and outgoing personality, there was also a certain assertiveness to him that scared me a bit, putting the already eerily cheerful tone that would creep me out aside. "Even though I called you now, there's still a long time until another conflict like the one you went through today."

Honestly, the fact that there was more didn't even surprise me; if anything it was expected so that wasn't the thing on my mind. _Oh, so it's not past midnight yet..._ I wondered if time would even pass in Heaven and if I was even resting at all, seeing as I was conscious; in the end, I had no answer to those questions. "You might be conscious here but you're still sleeping on Earth; convenient, right?"_ Actually, it really _is_ convenient... Uh, thanks, I guess?_ Although it felt awkward to thank him, I had to find at least _something_ positive about Him, even if it was just something small. "You thank me for that but you don't thank me for the Holy Protection, huh?"

_That's different!_ "How so~?" _Well, I don't know why you're doing it, for example. What if protecting me leads to something terrible?_ "Aren't you overthinking it~? If anything, this is completely beneficial to you since I'm making sure you don't die." _But that doesn't mean my family or friends are safe. What if something terrible happened to them instead? And you still don't tell me why you're protecting me in the first place..._ "Huh~? Did you already forget what I told you? There are some things you're better off not knowing. Speaking of that..."

When He uttered those words, I found myself suddenly struggling to not pass out, losing any strength in my legs as I staggered and blinking my eyes far too much for my own good. _You're kicking me out already?! Why are these visits so useless, you don't tell me anything!_ "But I told you all you needed to know, didn't I? That means that there's no need for you to stay here, unless you just feel like staying: you wouldn't want to remain in the Afterlife, would you?"_ Hell no, but I need my questions answered, damn it! How can I ever trust you when you don't tell me anything?!_

"Why wouldn't you trust God?" I wasn't even standing up anymore, only barely gazing at Byakuran's legs (or I guess His very white pants) since I was lying on the floor without any chance of standing up. "Anyway..." My eyes were at the point where they weren't even trying to stay open anymore, and the only thing that I could see was black.

Even so, I could still faintly hear His Divine Presence and I could also imagine that damned smile of his as He said, "Congratulations for making through Kokuyo~! Not that there was any chance of you not making it when you had Holy Protection."

"Well then, see you later~."

**. . .**

_Damn... you... _With that mere thought, I lost consciousness.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Byakuran and Observer-chan work too well off each other: I could make them talk about sweets, jackets and dragons and it would be _2000 words long!_ With that in mind, I always have to cut stuff out whenever I make them interact or the chapter becomes too long. Also, if fics had bloopers, then this would be one:

_"Hmm~? So you think I'll betray you? _**_Well, you caught me."_** XDD Seriously, we all know that it's going to happen since there will be a Future Arc so it's not even a spoiler. Anyway, the first part of this chapter had Observer-chan's mother, who is a minor character: honestly, Observer-chan and her mother are pretty similar in some aspects but that's kind of expected of them since they're family.

The one thing I regret from that first part though is the fact that I didn't introduce Observer-chan's father: I really want to introduce you to him but it didn't happen! Whatever the case, look forward to Daily Life? ^^


	49. Chapter 45

**First Words:**

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Haha, I lost a follower ^^' It hurts since maybe that means that my chapters aren't good enough but oh well, if it happens then it happens, no?

Anyway, I might not have started the Daily Life Arc with the most interesting chapter but believe me, I have some really cool plans. I mean, I still have Dino, Lambo, I-pin, Shoichi and a few more to introduce and I'm pretty sure that's going to be a lot of fun ^^ Oh, and don't even speak to me about the Varia Arc, you have no idea on how hyped I am for it.

... I already said that I was hyped for the Varia Arc so many times, I really should stop repeating myself. This is completely unrelated to the previous topic but with this chapter, I could totally tell why Ryohei/Hana is a thing (a hinted thing) in cannon: it can work, it can definitely work and I do approve of said pairing... it doesn't mean that I'll make it happen though, sorry for leading you on XD Speaking of that, there will probably be no romance between Observer-chan and some character: if anything, I might make a few hints but who knows, I might change my mind... but I doubt that'll happen. I really should stop leading you on... ^^'

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Ryohei actually invited Hana to the Math Club once (who obviously refused); he didn't know her that much at the time but when he did get to know her (through his sister), he strangely stopped asking...**

**\- Speaking of inviting people to the Math Club, one can only wonder about the original members of said club and their approval of such a thing: they have tried to stop him but it was so hopeless that they gave up. Some even quit the club so you could say that the current leader is Ryohei.**

Anyway, enjoy? ^^'

* * *

**Chapter 45: Math fail and illusionary win to the extreme  
**

* * *

It was a fairly normal day (as normal as Namimori could get), no strange mafia-related conflicts in sight, lunch break had arrived and I was about to go with Kyoko and Hana to eat said lunch. Everything seemed perfectly fine as we left the classroom but really, I should've known better.

**"HOW?!"** That shout came from none other than Ryohei who was running at fast speeds towards us, petrifying me where I stood. "How is my math test score 21?! I don't understand to the extreme!"

The poor test that he was referring to was being waved around and put very close to our faces so we could see the glory of just how bad he had failed his math test. "Ugh..." Hana didn't seem to want to deal with Ryohei at all, looking at him as if he was completely hopeless. "How about you stop bothering Kyoko and actually study math for once?"

"What?!" Ryohei shifted his attention to Hana in anger while she only turned the other way in disdain, having already made her point. _Hana handled that in such a cool way... why can't I do that too?_

Maybe that was because I was not really a cool person, as much as my friends at my previous school would say that I was the 'cool type': just because I'm tall and not as cheerful as them doesn't mean that I'm cool! "It's alright, Onii-chan; at least your grade went over 20 this time."_ Those aren't supposed to be words of consolation, Kyoko..._ The fact that she was smiling cheerfully was making it even worse. "I know you tried your hardest~!"

Hearing Kyoko's words, Ryohei almost seemed moved to tears. "Kyoko...!"

"12 times 2?" Even so, I decided that I would rather break that mood so I could test his basic math skills. Somehow, I had a feeling that it was going to turn out badly...

I mean, it just bothered me: he seemed to like math and since he had invited me to the math club, I also assumed that he was a part of it but why would he like math so much despite being so bad at it? Besides, he seemed pretty strong physically and he would run every morning (or so I assumed since he'd usually never be with Kyoko and would join us in going to school later) so it seemed like he did like that kind of stuff too. "Oh, is that a challenge?! Then I extremely accept! 12 times 2, right? That's... That's...!"

It almost looked like Ryohei was desperately trying to remember what that equaled but failing terribly. At this, I noticed that Hana was looking at him in amusement and smiled at me when our eyes met. _So you're finding it entertaining, huh? I kind of feel sorry for the guy, how did he not fail the year?_ "It's 24," I answered plainly, lacking in emotion due to how fast I had said that answer.

"That's right! You are really good at this!"_ It's basic math!_

Frowning, I asked, "20 times 10?"

"That should be easy! It's...!"

"It's 200..." _This guy really is hopeless,_ I thought and glanced at Hana, who was shaking her head from the fact that he couldn't get it right.

I could now understand what Hana was talking about, having tested (only a bit) his math skills; I could only wonder if he was even knowledgeable in addition and subtraction, but part of me was saying that he would at least know it by counting with his fingers... I still had no idea if that was a good thing or not. "That's also right! I knew it, you belong in the Math Club to the extreme!"

_Nooooo! What have I done?! After so much time of making sure he'd give up asking...!_ "Um, not really-" "You should join to the extreme!" I couldn't have looked more horrified at his words as he cut me off, making me back away slowly in panic.

"See, this is what happens when you challenge him at math," Hana said and sighed afterwards, looking troubled as she stared at how uncomfortable I looked. _Help me...!_

Despite my mental pleas for help, it didn't look like anyone was actually going to help me, making me even more depressed than before. As I saw him approach me in an excited yet determined way, I backed off even more to the point of running backwards so he wouldn't get too close to me. "So, will you join?! You will, right?! I think you should extremely-"

"Onii-chan, she ran away," Kyoko informed with a nervous smile, making me extremely (and I'm not taking that 'extreme' back) confused. _What is she talking about, I'm right here!_

Hana didn't seem to find her words weird at all, scaring me further. "What?! I didn't even notice to the extreme...! She really is skilled!" Ryohei exclaimed while looking around the whole place, almost as if looking for me when I was right there.

_Uh... Seriously, what's going on?!_ "I'll have to agree with you for once; I didn't even see her go away," Hana remarked with a confused look, depression looming around me. _I'm not being noticed..._

I waved my arms around but there was no response from anyone: I wasn't being seen at all by them. "I'm kind of worried about where she went but she'll be okay, right? So we should go on ahead; see you later, Onii-chan~!" Kyoko walk away with Hana, smiling as she waved at Ryohei.

"Ah, yes, see you later!" Ryohei responded, looking troubled yet leaving anyway, leaving me in the hallway with no one. _Wait, Kyoko was the one who said I wasn't here and she can put up illusions..._

**. . .**

I facepalmed for not having noticed it earlier but smiled right after that as I walked to where I assumed Kyoko and Hana would be going to. _I can't thank you enough, Kyoko; you saved me from the Math Club!_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

At first I had way more elaborate plans for this chapter but then I actually thought this through: 'Wasn't daily life short and pretty simple since it was all about being weird?' With that in mind, I scratched out the elaborate concept and replaced with a better one: it's short and sweet and Ryohei is in it!

I was also not going to have Hana around but that would be way too unfair of me so I'm making her be there; I mean, she is supposed to be Kyoko's friend so she'd be there for her, no? Besides, I was planning on including characters that weren't that included: Kyoko was only here because holy shit, I really do love Kyoko. Illusions are so OP that it's so awesome to use Kyoko... I'm afraid that this will become boring out of me repeating it too much X.X

Whatever the case, I also wanted to write Ryohei so I made something happen to him! I still think I should've made it something more interesting though... I hope this was good enough ^^'

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter?


	50. Chapter 46

**First Words:**

* * *

**L's Cappuccino - It's alright, I can totally understand: if anything, I think I should be studying right now but I'm uploading this chapter instead (I take a surprising amount of time to upload chapters) ^^' And welcome back, I guess? I dunno if that's what I should be saying but I don't care since I'm pretty happy that you're here (and reviewing all the chapters omg thank you ;_;). If that's what you thought of Mukuro's plans then I have basically done my job here since that's totally what I wanted everyone to think when they read it XD I'd separate my response for each review that you made but I can't really take too much space so I'll just answer everything in one paragraph, I guess: I'm really looking forward to the Future Arc too, although I'm not really sure which arc of the series is my favorite. Really, you should just assume that I'm looking forward to every arc I'm going to write in this story since I really am ^^' Oh, and Ryohei's really cool to write since he's naturally hilarious so I also wanted to see more of him (and Hana too since I do like her), leading me to write chapters like the last one; hopefully, he'll be in more chapters ^^ The fact that he'll have a role in the Varia Arc makes me so happy, like, I have some amazing plans with his fight so I'm totally hyped.**

Ahem, that was pretty long (I honestly wanted to write more...) but anyway, this chapter is also under 2000 words so don't let it fool you! By the way, I usually write this story on some strange program and then paste it all on a single word document: with that in mind, that document is freaking huge right now so I had to get another one just for this Daily Life Arc and Varia Arc and leave the other document as one reserved for only the First Daily Life Arc and the Kokuyo Arc... I know, this is really confusing for me too but I had to do it since I have too many chapters ^^' When I finish this story, I really should consider an index...

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Although this chapter already references it a lot, I'll clarify that the events of episode 5 (of the anime) did actually happen but there might've been some variations to some of them (like the fact that Tsuna's Dying Will Mode is completely different and Hibari's a super hero?). With that in mind, I'll also tell you that Observer-chan did not witness any of such events since she had only arrived some time (a few weeks) before Fuuta was kidnapped and the Kokuyo Arc happened. So yeah, Observer-chan will probably not understand anything that's connected to most of the events of the anime episodes;**

**\- Kyoko could've asked more out of Hibari (if anything, Hibari was expecting more... not that there was any guarantee of him accepting more in the first place) but with what she did in this chapter, she had completely wasted the chance due to not being selfish enough: what's worse is the fact that the only person who actually wanted to use that room being Kyoko herself was Reborn of all people so it might not have been the best of things to get. But welp, who knows? Maybe it'll have some use in the future?**

Anyway, enjoy? ^^

* * *

**Chapter 46: Strange negotiations between equally strange people**

* * *

As I was heading towards the roof, I saw Hana walking towards me at a fast pace. "What's wrong?" I asked her as I stared at her troubled expression in confusion.

"Huh? Hey, you're back," Hana noted out loud, reminding me of what had happened a while ago: Kyoko made me disappear so I could avoid joining the Math Club.

_But what happened to Hana for her to come back?_ "Um, yeah, but... aren't you supposed to be at the rooftop with Kyoko-chan?"

"Well, Kyoko started talking about how we could have lunch at the Reception Room or something like that, so that's where we went. I still don't know how she can pull that off though... So, could you hurry over there and watch over her for me? I wouldn't want her to get in trouble," Hana asked, looking both worried and troubled at the same time: I could tell that she really cared for her.

Even so, I wondered what was so dangerous about the Reception Room and how Kyoko even thought of going there; was it that good of a place or something? I nodded, saying only, "Alright."

As I dashed through the hallway, I couldn't help but have a bad feeling about Kyoko's sudden change of location, hoping that it had nothing to do with her illusionary endeavors...

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

When I arrived at the entrance to the Reception Room, I saw a scene that I never wanted to see again. "Is that all?" As I got next to Kyoko, I heard that question asked by _Hibari_ of all people, his eyes narrowed.

"I wouldn't want to ask too much of you, but could you also let Tsuna-kun and everyone else in freely? It looked like they also wanted the place so... Oh, but if anything important with the Disciplinary Committee comes up then you don't need to let any of us in, okay?" Kyoko asked in a pleading tone.

**. . .**

_... Did she just ask something from Hibari of all people? And wait, the Reception Room belongs to the Disciplinary Committee?! At least that's what it looks like or Hana wouldn't want me to watch over Kyoko._ "Wait," Hibari simply said as he entered the room, leaving us both to just stand there.

"Um, Kyoko-chan? What did you just do?" I asked out loud, truly wanting to know the answer to it no matter how straightforward that would be of me.

She turned to me with a smile on her face, contrasting with how she looked while talking to Hibari. I did wonder on how Kyoko could look apologetic towards Hibari of all people but then again, she was just strange in general. "I just got the Reception Room for everyone!" She said that in a very cute way but knowing Kyoko, she probably wasn't doing it on purpose.

"But..." Her smile disappeared as it looked like she was thinking of something pretty sad. "I feel really bad about asking such things out of him. Well, he was the one who asked me if I had something I wanted him to do but I never wanted to make him do something. Even if he says that he's indebted to me, I don't really want anything in return." _Wait..._

_"I was taken away from that room by Kyoko Sasagawa; I have yet to repay my debt to her."_

I mean, that was what Hibari had said at the time but I didn't know that he was actually going to do it! "And then I remembered that Tsuna-kun apparently wanted the Reception Room as an HQ for something so I decided to ask for that; besides, I thought that this would also be a good place to have lunch. I hope I'm not troubling him too much…"

_... Kyoko, you're too kind: if it were me, I would've made him do worse and I wouldn't even regret it._ Not that I was going to say that, seeing as the door to the Reception Room was being opened and I did not want to be in trouble because of such words. "If that's all it takes to repay you then I'll be fine with your terms on one condition: you'll have to warn me every time any of you decides to use this room. I wouldn't want to get caught up in your crowding," Hibari spoke while closing the door behind him, looking the same as before.

"Alright!" Kyoko immediately nodded with a cheerful smile, saying, "Thank you!"

Meanwhile, I couldn't help but being curious on what he did in that room so I decided to ask, "By the way, what did you have to do in there?"

"Cleaning," Hibari simply said, much to my confusion from how strange it was of him to use that word; I could almost tell that there was something more to it, but I couldn't tell what exactly that was… "Now, I have no more business with you so I'm leaving."

With that, Hibari walked away, leaving us to stare as he instilled fear in the students unfortunate enough to be in the same hallway as Hibari (and he wasn't even threatening them!). "Hey, what are you doing?" What snapped us out of that staring was Hana's voice, making us turn around and see her looking like she had seen us do something really weird.

"Hana! We got the Reception Room!" Kyoko said enthusiastically yet not as loudly as one would expect, especially when she was apparently Ryohei's sister.

Hana actually looked very surprised, making me wonder on how much she knew about Kyoko and her illusions. "You did? How did you even find Hibari? You were still talking to Tsuna by the time I left so I doubt you even had the time to look for him."

"Talking to Tsuna? Wait, didn't Tsuna either go to eat in the classroom or the roof?" At least that's what I was assuming, and neither of those places were really close to the Reception Room: what would Tsuna be doing there?

Besides, since when did Tsuna ever 'want' some place, especially one that belonged to Hibari of all people? It certainly made no sense to me... "Yeah, I thought it was strange too but I noticed that I forgot my lunch box at that time so I couldn't ask him anything. He was acting really strange too, looking all serious and cold in front of Kyoko; I never thought No-Good-Tsuna of all people would do that, especially while talking to her..."

Hana's thoughtful expression only emphasized the fact that she was probably saying the truth, seeing as she was thinking hard about it herself. Even so, what she said didn't make that much sense: if Hana went away that early then Tsuna couldn't have disappeared and as she had pointed out, Tsuna had also been acting strange. _And I saw Hibari when I got here while Hana would probably activate her switch if she did the same..._

... With all of that in mind, I could conclude that it was all obviously Kyoko's fault. Even so, Kyoko's actions were for a good reason so I wasn't mad at all: if anything, I was happy since I wouldn't have to deal with Hana's strange condition. Basically, Kyoko was acting like a true friend and protecting us all from undesired events.

"Hmmm, that does sound strange... Oh well, I guess you can ask Tsuna-san that when you see him next time." Because of that, I decided to help out and try to avoid the topic of the strange things that Hana had noticed, knowing that she would definitely be able to connect the dots if she even had knowledge of them all. "So, let's not waste our lunch break any longer and go in, I guess."

I still felt uncomfortable about saying that, seeing as I've never been to the Reception Room. "Yeah!" Kyoko said cheerfully, but it seemed like I had to be the first to open the door and go in since she wasn't moving from her spot. Sighing, I did just that only to see a very nice-looking room with a desk, big windows nearby almost as if for whoever was going to sit there to enjoy the view and even comfortable-looking couches that I would not at all mind to sit on.

_No wonder Kyoko wanted to have lunch here, it does look pretty nice..._ As Hana and Kyoko followed behind me and as I was going to sit on one of the couches, I noticed that the windows were completely open.

... The fact that those really big windows were open in such a way bothered me a lot, more than I had expected. I stopped close to the couches, staring intently at the windows for a long time, or at least that's what it seemed since I wasn't even sure of how much time had passed while I was staring at them.

Before I knew it, I was already heading towards them. After all, they were open and wanting to close them was almost an instinctive response for me. Besides, it was kind of chilly at the time, right? Right...?

Honestly, I wasn't even considering that as I got close to those windows.

... But then again, I didn't even consider that I'd see what I had just laid eyes upon when I actually reached the damned windows. _Oh God- Oh damn it..._ A couple of people from the Disciplinary Committee were lying on the ground, while some others looked on in worry. Even so, the weirdest and most terrifying part of that was the fact that their position almost coincided with where they would probably land if they were _thrown out of these windows..._

I immediately closed said windows and turned around as if nothing had happened, yet still looking somewhat disturbed. "Is something wrong?" Kyoko asked in worry as I forced myself to smile but completely failing to do so.

"Uh, nope, I'm completely fine." It didn't sound that convincing but it was the best I could do in the situation I was in. I sat on the couch that was on the other side, having it all to myself since neither Kyoko nor Hana were on it.

... Even so, I found myself wondering if I could even eat my lunch now since what I had seen was still clear on my head. After all, Hibari had come in and the people from the Disciplinary Committee were outside, in such a strange area to be on too...

**. . .**

I shivered, thinking, _So that's what Hibari meant with 'cleaning'..._

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**Author's Notes:  
**

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LOL Hibari doing weird stuff again: can he even be called a super hero at this point? XD Honestly, I want to make him do more super hero-like stuff in some chapter; if fact, I have some stuff of the sort planned. Anyway, I was planning on this chapter a long time ago but I still had some difficulties with the last parts for one reason and one reason only:

Kyoko is so convenient that you really have no idea on how much I like to make her do all sorts of illusions. I mean, as much as I love Master Illusionist Kyoko, making her look OP over and over again would admittedly be boring so I cut some illusions out and made a more simple ending without touching stuff like murder because murder is not funny ^^'

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it since I have some really hilarious ideas on my mind: I'm only not writing them yet because I'm thinking about writing them at a later time.

Look forward to that? ^^


	51. Chapter 47

**First Words:**

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**L's Cappuccino - Hibari's 'cleaning' would naturally be the cleaning of others out of locations that were supposed to be empty 8D Hibari's a guy who doesn't like to be indebted to people, so he wanted that taken care of right away: since Kyoko was already strong on her own, both him and I figured that she'd be covered in whatever fights she'd get in so Hibari decided to just ask her what could he do to no longer be indebted to him. At first, Kyoko said that she didn't want anything but Hibari's a prideful dude so he pressed on. Then, Kyoko kind of reminded herself of something she heard about Tsuna wanting the reception room so she decided to ask for that, for Tsuna's sake. So, to answer your question (I can't help but feeling like most of it is off-topic...), it was Hibari's sense of debt ^^' Was the chapter confusing? I thought I hinted at what happened enough for people to understand, but maybe not? I hope that isn't the case...**

This story got 3 favorites and 3 followers while I wasn't uploading, that's awesome! Checking out the favorites and followers of this story was pretty interesting since I had gained a follower at first, then I lost a follower, and then I got a follower and a favorite ^^

Anyway,** Merry... late Christmas! ;_;** I'm so disappointed at myself because I wanted to write a Christmas Omake and upload it today but that didn't happen and I got hung up on family business today so I couldn't upload it on time! Besides, that Christmas Omake was cannonically placed after Chapter 56 which is still being written, meaning that I was also trying to finish Chapter 48 as fast as possible. Because of that I decided not to upload the omake and instead upload Chapter 55, which had been waiting to be uploaded in a very long while. I hope you don't mind that I uploaded this late ^^' With that in mind, I guess that Christmas omake could be considered an outtake...

But don't worry, I'll write omakes that celebrate the other holidays... hopefully (I'm really gonna try to, I promise!).

**Fun facts:**

**\- One might think that there was some sort of interesting background as to how Tsuna's mother and Observer-chan's mother met but really, they actually met by coincidence: Observer-chan's mother just happened to be leaving her house when she was spotted by Tsuna's mother who, having never met her, a supposed neighbor, before, went to talk to her. Observer-chan's mother thought Nana was annoying at first (after all, she wouldn't simply find her to be really cool after being approached by her in such a way and even then, their personalities clash a bit too) but they kind of get along now ^^**

**\- Speaking of that, Observer-chan's mother and Nana talked about all sorts of things that were happenning to their children, which is why she was informed of certain things that happened to Observer-chan. Even so, those things were what Observer-chan told her mother and how she interpreted them: with that in mind, 'I met a bunch of weird people that I'll be hanging out with for a while' became 'I befriended a couple of people; they're kind of quirky though' in her mother's perspective and that's also as far as Nana knows.**

Anyway, enjoy ^^

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**Chapter 47: In which I was strangely hung up about Tsuna's house**

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Today, I was supposed to go to Tsuna's house to study for an upcoming test. I also heard that there would be more people coming over but I decided not to think too hard about it, knowing that some unpleasant people would probably be there.

As I got up to Tsuna's front door, I realized the fact that I had never been to Tsuna's house before: I've walked with him to its entrance, I've heard people like Haru mentioning it as if they'd come over often and I've even seen people like Gokudera go in while I was returning home but I had never stepped foot inside his house at all!

I knocked on the door and waited while looking around as if analyzing the area, even though I had seen it before. Hearing the door open, I immediately looked towards a woman with short brown hair and a kind smile despite only having opened the door. "Hello." She stared at me curiously as if to wonder on who I was, only to then smile brightly right afterwards. "Oh my, could it be that you are one of Tsuna's friends?"

_I'm pretty sure any normal person would ask about what business I have with them or my name or something, not just outright assume that I'm with Tsuna! Well, I am, but..._ "Uh, yes; I live right over there..." I pointed to the general area of my house, which was really not that close to Tsuna's as much as it was to Haru's and Haru's house was around the corner.

"Ah, so you're Miyako's daughter! I've heard a lot about you." _Referring to my mother by first name?! Just how did they meet anyway?!_ "Moving away to an unknown place is usually tough so I'm glad you were able to make friends so fast. I hope you can keep being friends with Tsu-kun from now on~." _This mother is awfully cheerful..._ At least I assumed that it was Tsuna's mother since they did have similarities and she was referring to him in such a way too.

_Now that she said it, I did meet Haru on my first day of school... Not that I ever intended to befriend her at the time._ Well, at least I never had the intentions of truly befriending the people that I was going to hang out with but that seemed not to be the case anymore. Even so, it would take me a long time to get used to how weird everything was.

Really, their strange antics were almost like a wall separating me, a pretty normal girl, and them, a group of _very_ strange, but overall kind people: said wall wasn't letting me get too close to them. I still considered them to be friends of mine, but I didn't feel very close to them, at least not as close as I still was with my old friends and they were currently in a whole other city. "Uh, I'll do my best," I muttered in uncertainty, looking the other way as if to hide my nervous expression. As much as I was no longer hanging out with them because I'd be alone otherwise, and even as much as I worried for them, they were still very strange people to me and that didn't seem to change at all.

"There's no need to be nervous! Come on in," Tsuna's mother cheerfully led the way to the entrance, making me feel somewhat accomplished for having finally been able to see it.

One step into the house and...

"You idiot cow, stop getting in the way already!" The sound of an explosion roared from upstairs, making me freeze in my tracks. The door was still open and Tsuna's mother seemed slightly surprised. The scream of what seemed to be a child had also echoed from there, but it seemed to have gone farther away as the seconds passed. So someone had been caught in the explosion...

_'Idiot cow'...?_ I could only think of this as I had processed that the voice I had heard before the explosion was Gokudera's. "It looks like they're as lively as always~." I shockingly gazed at Tsuna's mother, who seemed unfazed, smiling even, at what had just happened.

"Go on, I'm sure they're waiting for you," she urged, but I didn't budge. _'Go on,' you say...? To that battlefield...?! Are you insane?! How is an explosion just 'being lively'?!_ But then again, seeing as everyone was so weird, I shouldn't have been surprised that she would be weird as well. "Is something wrong? You seem so pale..."

Seeing her worrying for me made me snap back to reality, looking somewhat apologetic. "Ah, no, it's nothing! You're right, they really must be expecting me, so I guess I'll..." I paused, hesitating to exclaim the rest, making for a very unconvincing statement. "I'll get going."

"Well, if you say so... But if there is something I can help with, don't hesitate to talk to me, alright?" The fact that those words seemed sincere made me feel confused at first since she was only my neighbor (kind of) and I just met her but after some silence, I nodded with a smile, turned around and went upstairs.

_Like mother, like son, I guess..._ After all, they both possessed strange kindness towards others: fortunately, Tsuna was much more down-to-earth than his mother.

"Such a shy child~," I heard Tsuna's mother mutter that, making me almost trip while going up the stairs._ Actually, and this might be because of her strange cheerfulness, but she kind of reminds me of Byakuran... if he were a housewife._

... The mere thought and mental image of that was too frightening to take. "Ow!" I accidentally kicked the stairs and hurt my foot at the last step, now in an even worse mood to deal with strange stuff.

And, knowing that I was definitely going to face strange stuff, I could only fear for what was ahead of me...

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**Author's Notes:**

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Housewife!Byakuran though XD _MAKE IT HAPPEN!_ Just kidding; if anything, please don't make it happen ^^' Anyway, you may have noticed that I left you with a cliffhanger, and there are reasons for this: first, the chapter was getting too long and second, I figured that whatever's ahead of her going up the stairs is probably going to be enough to make another Arc finale.

Even so, if I don't happen to make something sufficiently good in the next chapter, this cliffhanger won't exist anymore ^^' You know, isn't it strange that Nana reminds her of Byakuran yet that never happened with Kyoko? I mean, I'm pretty sure Kyoko's even more suspicious of a person with her amazing Master Illusionist skills, while Nana's like... Tsuna's mother XD

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter? ^^


	52. Chapter 48

**First Words:**

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**L's Cappuccino - So there was someone who made it happen... Somehow, that doesn't surprise me XD **

This chapter is long: at first, I really cared since I wanted the chapters to be short but I'm so inspired that I can't help but making them long, and I think that's a good sign. Whatever the case, this chapter's long and it has a lot of stuff in it, so I hope you'll like it.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- You might not remember this, but Lambo had been mentioned somewhere in Chapter 33 and Observer-chan had reacted by firmly thinking that she did _not_ want to meet him. As strong as those thoughts were, she forgot all about it since that was overshadowed by the rest of the events in that day;**

**\- If you're wondering, they were going to study Math; that was the reason why Kyoko brought Ryohei along since he needs all the help he can get with that subject.**

Anyway, enjoy? ^^

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**Chapter 48: Many things happened today but studying was not one of them**

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"You're really weak, sitting there just because you hurt your foot; no wonder you need protection."

My trance of sitting on the floor while grabbing my foot had been completely broken by a squeaky voice that I remembered well, but it didn't fail to scare me despite that. "Waah! Reborn...?!" I quickly stood up and turned to where he was, Reborn being close to a door to some room of Tsuna's house.

"So, I'm guessing you still don't feel like saying anything?" I immediately tensed from Reborn's question, not even sure if I was supposed to actually answer it or not: he probably already knew the answer anyway.

I shook my head, slightly hesitant in doing so. If anything, I wanted to tell him everything but it was just so ridiculous that even he wouldn't have believed me. "Will you keep asking that?"

"Maybe." Reborn's vague answer only served to make me more nervous and I could bet that was his intention, pissing me off further. "If you don't know where No-Good-Tsuna's room is, then it's right here. He was asking for you just now too," Reborn informed while pointing to the door he was next to; I couldn't have felt dumber.

Sighing, I said, "If that's true, then I guess I should go..." I hesitantly stepped towards the door and opened it slowly, only to see Reborn going in first. _Wait, so you you're going in again? I mean, didn't you just come from Tsuna's room, you were right there!_

Going inside, I could see Tsuna, who looked really relieved when he noticed me going in the room (probably because his studying wasn't going that well), Haru, who seemed pretty upbeat, Gokudera, glaring at me as expected and Yamamoto, being jolly as he always was. "You're finally here!" Haru exclaimed, going up to me excitedly.

"Yeah, sorry for not coming in earlier." After all, I literally wasted time doing absolutely nothing in Tsuna's house, technically making me be late to, um, studying... I guess. "Where's Kyoko-chan though? Wasn't she coming too?"

Haru's smile remained despite my question, which would (normally) have negative connotations to it. "I got a text from her just now: she's apparently almost here so there's no need to worry at all!" _Now that she mentions it, Haru does text a lot..._

Maybe it was because of her thing for knowing everything and collecting information but she really did send a lot of texts for all sorts of (surprisingly) practical purposes: now I could only assume that the text she got from Kyoko was her response to Haru's, which was probably questioning her whereabouts; despite that, I'd always have a feeling that Haru did know the answer to the questions she'd ask by phone. "Well, that's nice to hear."

"By the way..." I paused while observing Tsuna's room, noticing that it looked awfully normal for the sounds that I heard coming from it. "I heard an explosion but your room seems perfectly fine. It also seemed like someone was caught in it so I was wondering who it was."

Tsuna seemed to be the only one who reacted to my words appropriately, freezing as if to make sure he wouldn't have to say anything. "An explosion?" Yamamoto laughed. "It really looked like one, huh? Toys these days sure are amazing; no wonder Gokudera and Lambo like playing with them all the time!"

_I'm scared already...!_ Gokudera stood up from where he was sitting on (the floor) in anger, looking ready to take out dynamite. "You idiot, those are real-" "Gokudera-kun, I don't understand this problem!" But, before Gokudera could do that, Tsuna had cut him off while waving paper that I assumed had exercises they were solving.

"Oh, then I will explain it to you immediately, Tenth!" Tsuna's distraction tactic had worked well, but it seemed like he was now stuck with Gokudera's amazingly complicated explanations, as Yamamoto did absolutely nothing.

... With this in mind, how in the hell was I supposed to study? Actually, the very idea of studying with people as weird as this was probably not that good in the first place since no progress would be made from it.

I decided to take out my notes, only for me to hear the sound of a gun shooting through the window; not only that, but the bullet had traversed right next to where I was.

In complete shock, I turned to where that bullet had come from, only to see a little boy in a cow suit and a very strange afro wielding a gun; his outfit looked a bit charred though. _What..._

"You'll... You'll pay for that dynamite!" The kid shouted, seemingly unconfident at first before looking smug while holding what seemed to be a rainbow-colored pistol. Unlike Reborn, his speech patterns were very childish as expected of a little kid, even referring to himself as 'Lambo-san', 'Lambo' presumably being his name.

... I guess he was a more age appropriate version of baby assassins (arcobaleno or whatever). I wondered if he was in the same group as Reborn while cautiously staring at him: kid or not, he had a (ridiculous-looking) gun and I didn't want to be in the range of that thing. "Gyahahaha!" He laughed as he aimed at Gokudera and shot twice. "Die, die!"

I closed my eyes for a split second before opening them again in worry and fear, checking if everything was okay. As far as that went, Gokudera seemed fine, albeit very angry while Tsuna seemed to be fearing what would happen next. Meanwhile, Yamamoto laughed as if he was watching them just playing around with toys.

... But then again, I wouldn't blame him for confusing a rainbow-colored gun with a toy, but a normal person would understand that it was a gun after seeing it shoot bullets! "You interrupted me while I was explaining a problem to the Tenth..." Gokudera seemed really mad as he muttered that, making Lambo look nervous from the tone of Gokudera's voice. "Now what if the Tenth gets confused?!"

_He wouldn't understand you anyway!_ "I-I don't care!" Lambo clearly cared, but that wasn't what was bothering me. Noticing that Reborn was still here and at a fairly close distance from where I was, I decided to ask him for explanations.

"Um, who's that? And why is his gun so weird...?" After all, Reborn seemed to be good at explanations. Gokudera and Lambo looked like they were arguing but I wasn't focused on them.

I could only imagine what Tsuna was thinking while it all happened. "A nuisance," Reborn answered, leaving me to process why exactly he only said that.

... Well, I didn't need that much time to understand that, seeing as he was a kid with guns who was bothering us. As I thought about it, I was pretty sure that I had already heard the name 'Lambo' from somewhere, but I couldn't remember where... "Okay, but what about the guns?"

"That's the Bovino Family's trademark: 'fabulous weaponry', or so it's called." _Fa... Well, I guess it's appropriate._ Even so, I had no idea of what this Bovino Family consisted of: as far as I could assume, it was probably some other mafia family. If that was the case, then why were they so casual with their competitors? Maybe they were allies or something?

... Mafia stuff was simply beyond me. "A lot of their weapons have interesting effects too, like the one you're gonna see now."

"Huh?" I confusedly turned around and saw Lambo crying while holding a purple bazooka pointed at himself. _Where did he get that out from...?!_

Furthermore, why was he pointing it at himself? Did he really want to shoot himself or was it just that he was a kid and didn't know how to aim properly with one? But then again, I've never had a bazooka so I wouldn't know. "Oh, is he gonna do the magic trick from before?" Yamamoto looked at Lambo expectantly as he asked that, confusing me even more.

_Magic trick? What is he going to do?_ I glanced at Reborn who seemed amused and then at Tsuna, who seemed in distress.

... Since Tsuna was the closest to a normal person, I trusted his reaction and assumed that something bad was going to happen. "I can't stay calm, waaaah!" That was when he indeed shot himself, smoke surging from that shot.

To be honest, I'd have expected the bazooka to do way more damage than just having smoke everywhere. "Hahii, what's happening?!" I heard Haru ask in surprise, but I wasn't looking at her.

"Oh no...!" I also heard Tsuna say that, but I was focused on finding what exactly was beyond that smoke so I paid it no mind. _Just what does that thing do?_

To my surprise, I saw in front of me a mature-looking, admittedly handsome teenager in the exact same place where Lambo had been standing on. His outfit seemed somewhat cow-themed as well, and his eyes had a striking blue-ish green color that I had seen in Lambo's eyes, albeit Lambo looked too cutesy to notice how pretty such a color was.

But, where was Lambo? _Oh, don't tell me..._ "Adult Lambo...!" Tsuna muttered with a blank gaze, looking like he wanted to leave his room badly. _Wait, what?_

"... Reborn, what does he mean with that?" Reborn was slowly becoming a makeshift Zakuro in this situation, and I could only hope he would actually answer all my questions properly unlike the former.

At least, Reborn didn't seem to mind explaining things, but he was also very unpredictable so it was hard to confirm that. "It's exactly what it means: it's Lambo from the Future; that bazooka is called '10-Year Bazooka' for a reason."

"What...?!" I was assuming that the bazooka would transform him into a stronger version of himself or something like that but I never thought it would be some sort of weird time machine! "Then what about the Lambo from this timeline?"

Reborn decided to get to a more comfortable talking distance before answering, "He's in the Future: when he shot himself with the 10-Year Bazooka, he replaced his Future self while his Future self replaced him; they switch places. It only lasts 5 minutes though."

_Such a thorough explanation given without complaints... I could get used to this._ "Alright..." I concluded, not finding any more questions to ask. 'I guess he got frustrated and left the situation to his future self.'

"Hahii, it's that guy I'm no good at talking to!" Haru said, looking scared and even moving behind Tsuna, who was looking fairly nervous as well. I could only wonder what she meant but I could assume that she had seen him before and that she probably didn't know that he was the future version of the kid who was trying to kill Gokudera with a weird gun.

Despite the fact the volume of her voice, Haru's words were promptly ignored; somehow, I could see that it was for the best. "It's nice to see you again, Vongola." Future Lambo (despite Tsuna and Reborn referring to him as Adult Lambo, I felt like this would fit better) greeted, his voice surprisingly deep and his tone surprisingly calm as well; he must've really changed in 10 years. "Since I'm here, I assume my past self caused you trouble again."

_So mature...!_ The contrast between him and his present self was simply amazing. "Ah, no, you don't need to worry about that...!" Tsuna seemed nervous around him, possibly because of said contrast.

"Well, then I guess I'll- Hmm...?" He was going to say something in a more carefree manner before he noticed my presence and became serious for some reason, staring at me intently. "... So the a-" _**"We're here to the extreme!"**_

Before he could say whatever he was going to say about me, he got cut off by Ryohei, who had appeared all of a sudden. I hadn't heard the door, so I could only assume that I was that distracted with what was going on. "Oh no..." Behind Ryohei was Kyoko, who didn't look very happy when she laid eyes on Future Lambo.

... And that was undoubtedly because Hana was also with her. "Aaah," I could already hear her as she passed through Ryohei and Kyoko, looking as if she was in a very pleasant dream. "The handsome guy from before! I hadn't seen him in so long!" _Not the Switch...! Kyoko had been so good at making sure it wouldn't happen too!_

She was probably in such a trance that she was voicing her thoughts, and they were very strange in her present state. "Oh no, Hana-san's Fangirl Switch!" Haru shouted, just as alarmed as me with this situation.

"Her what...?!" Tsuna didn't seem to be that knowledgeable of the Switch, despite having known Hana for presumably more time than I have; but then again, they didn't seem to ever really talk to each other much.

Somehow, I could see that Future Lambo was looking at her very awkwardly, if not in surprise. "Uh..."

"You're livelier than usual today, just what are you..." _Oh come on, who else is gonna show up?!_ I looked toward the source of the female voice to find Bianchi, whose words had trailed off as she laid eyes on Future Lambo but her gaze was dark; she was definitely not a fangirl of him, that much was sure. **"Romeo...!"**

Getting out purple, most likely inedible cake, she started running towards a very scared Future Lambo, who screamed as he tried to get to the window so he could escape, Hana following behind him. "Wait, handsome! I haven't talked to you yeeet...!" _The switch is scary..._ Since I hadn't seen it in a while, I had forgotten all about how weird it was.

"I'll make sure you won't live through this...!" Bianchi threw the cake she had in her hands as it landed very close to him, much to his horror.

Meanwhile, I could only get confused at what was happening in front of me. "Uh, Reborn... Who's Romeo?"

"Bianchi's ex-boyfriend: he looks a lot like Adult Lambo." _Okay..._ I could only pity the poor soul that was her ex-boyfriend if she would try to kill him on sight.

Whatever the case, I didn't even know what exactly to look at. "Everyone's really getting along today," Yamamoto commented as he watched the chaos close to him as if it were nothing more than many people playing tag. "I want in on that too!"

"Huh, Yamamoto?!" Tsuna seemed to be even more confused and nervous than I was as he watched Yamamoto go in after them with a cheerful grin on his face. _Rest in peace, Yamamoto, you will be missed..._ "Wait!"

Unfortunately, Yamamoto did not hear that so he did not stop. "So, who's it?" _Oh God- Oh damn it, he actually thinks they're playing tag..._ Well, they had been running around, and maybe, in his super dense logic, he figured that the cake signified Future Lambo was it or something.

... Maybe I was over-thinking it. "You fucking bastards, you're all interrupting the Tenth's studies!" He had four sticks of dynamite in each hand, and he was definitely not afraid of throwing them.

"So you were going to study?!" Ryohei asked as if he didn't know what we had come here to do in the first place. He probably didn't, as he wasn't even in the same school year as us, therefore making it strange for him to ever be called over: maybe Kyoko had just brought him along?

Speaking of Kyoko, she was nowhere to be seen. _She got away...!_ Even so, I couldn't think about that forever, especially with this 'storm' forming in front of me. Yamamoto chuckled as he saw a very angry Gokudera, saying, "So _you're_ it!"

"Handsome, could you tell me your name...?!"

"You better not be thinking of escaping through that window because I won't let you!"

"What have I done to deserve this?!"

"This is so much fun!"

"You idiot, this isn't just a game!"

_**"I'm confused to the extreme!"**_

"Hahii!"

"Aaah, everything is falling apart...!" That was probably the best description of what was happening with everyone, given by a fairly helpless Tsuna. _What is even g-_

The sound of something going through the window at _very_ fast speeds (mostly the sound of wind) made me unable to think as I saw before me Hibari, who had delivered a strong blow on Future Lambo with his tonfas while flying with his strange rocket boots, knocking him out. From that, smoke suddenly appeared, revealing the Lambo I had seen before, looking around in confusion.

"You've disturbed the peace of Namimori with your noisy crowding, so I'll bite you all to death...!" Hana was the second to go out with another fierce attack from Hibari, who in turn aimed to take out Yamamoto.

_Just what the hell is going on here?!_ "Wait, Hibari-san! How could we have disturbed the peace of Namimori with just this?!" Tsuna's words seemed more like him trying to see if Hibari could have mercy on them rather than truly asking what I wanted to ask, but even then that was understandable since no one would want to get bitten to death.

"Oh? And you don't think blowing up a house doesn't disturb peace? Not mention the noise you were making..." He beat Yamamoto as he finished saying that, leaving Tsuna and I confused. _What house?_

I tried my hardest not to stand out as I swiftly snuck through Hibari knocking out Gokudera and looked out the window. "Oh..." Horrified, I went back to Reborn and Tsuna's side to tell them, "The house in front of this one... has a pretty big hole in its entrance."

"What?!" Tsuna shockingly uttered and then looked at what Hibari was doing. "Hiii, he's coming for uuuus~...!" Hibari had already bitten everyone to death, and only the two of us were left (with the exception of Reborn) as we ran away in great fear.

_Why me...?!_ "You won't escape...!" I knew from personal experience that Hibari was unbelievably fast, even without propelling himself with the weird flames; trying to run from him would easily tire you out.

Even so, I didn't want to get bitten to death so I wasn't going to stop either! "Don't be a coward, No-Good-Tsuna!" Reborn said as he was somehow able to catch up to our running speed, seemingly trying to motivate Tsuna to fight Hibari.

"That's easy for you to say!" He understandably answered, screaming as he found that Hibari got closer and closer...

... In the middle of all this, there was only one thing I could think about at the moment, despite currently being chased by a super hero.

_Weren't we supposed to have been studying?!_

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**Author's Notes:**

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Whew, that was quite the chapter! If anything, I think it might have been needlessly long, but I did warn you about that in the previous chapter and see, it did become a long chapter! Anyway, it was pretty chaotic, and I like the fact that it was chaotic: I was missing chaotic nonsense in this story, but I might've gone overboard here ^^'

I was actually planning on making Dino appear but as I wrote, I noticed that I already had enough characters for this storm of a chapter so I decided to have him appear in some other chapter. In other news, I finally know what Dino is gonna be in this story! Like, I was seriously struggling to find something for him but I finally got it, and I'm so proud of myself for that. With that in mind, Dino will be seen (but probably not on the next chapter). Now to figure out something for I-pin...

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter? ^^


	53. Chapter 49

**First Words:**

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This story got a favorite and a follower! Thank you ^^

Anyway, this chapter's important... to me, not the plot. Why, you ask? Because if it weren't for its concept, I would've never thought of writing this story so yes, this is what made me write out the first 6 chapters in one day and keep going until now. Ah, isn't it simply astonishing that I've yet to get to the Varia Arc? I only highlight this because I'm also shocked: I never thought I'd have _this_ many chapters!

Whatever the case, I've noticed a pattern of me never having confidence in my newest chapters, thinking that my writing in the first ones was way better: when I actually go read the first chapters, I notice that this isn't the case at all; my writing has improved, and the recent chapters aren't that bad. With that in mind, I'll try to have more confidence in myself... and hopefully succeed.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- As Observer-chan concluded, Namimori wasn't always as weird as now: it was a fairly normal town until Hibari's rise in fame and it became even worse when Reborn arrived. By now, the residents of Namimori have gotten used to how strange the town is and adapted to it. It's also heard that the prices of houses are lower in Namimori than any other town...**

**\- Although it was shown in Chapter 1 that reporters would come by to pester Hibari, it is a very rare occurrence (since it had been concluded by them that it's basically pointless, but some try...). When it does happen, no news of him are broadcasted anyway. Why, you ask? Hibari has his methods, and you surely know how rich and powerful he is...**

So, enjoy? ^^'

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**Chapter 49: I met an idol today**

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_Damn you Hibari, why did you have to be fighting crime right when I was going for a walk?! This happens every damned time...!_ To be fair, I would sometimes be able to go for a walk without coming across a horde of fangirls, but today wasn't one of those days.

Hibari happened to be flying around, which meant that the fangirls were moving around as well. To make it worse, they were moving towards me at fast speeds so they could catch up to Hibari's insane pace: since there was no way to go around them, I had to run from them instead.

... This led to the situation I was in now, and it was definitely not the kind of situation I wanted to be in. "Whyy~?!" I turned to my side and saw a boy who seemed to be my age or older, his only visible distinctive feature to him being the glasses he was wearing since he had a hood on his head.

He was also running away from the fangirls, looking as panicked as a normal person would be while doing it. I couldn't help but feeling sorry for him, since he probably wasn't used to such situations (as any normal person wouldn't be).

But somehow, the other people, who were probably not new to Namimori at all, would be able to go through the horde without fear: it was almost as if they knew what they were doing. _Just what kind of techniques have they learned to get through that...?_

The boy also looked at that in a mix of confusion and amazement, a very understandable reaction. If anything, I was probably better off than him, having a few months of experience with the strange dangers of Namimori; well, not that there was any guarantee that he hadn't been here for longer than I had...

"Ah!" That was my first reaction as I finally saw a path to the side, one that wasn't in the direction Hibari was going towards. _That's my chance!_ I glanced at the boy and it seemed like he hadn't noticed it, still looking panicked. "This way!"

I pointed towards the path I found as I shouted that, hoping that he had heard that. "Huh?!" He looked towards me in surprise but when he realized just what I was saying, he ran towards it with me, both of us looking very determined to make it there.

Looking closely, what we were running towards wasn't a path leading to anything but a blind alley, but that didn't matter; if anything, it was good that it was a dead end since there would be no chance of the fangirls going there.

We stopped running right when we reached it, both panting from having ran that much. _And here I thought I had gotten better stamina from that day in Kokuyo..._ "What... was that...?" He asked, still fatigued.

"Hibari... He's the one... they were chasing..." I breathed out and sat near a wall, hoping that I would rest better.

He looked at me as I did that, but continued standing. "Hibari...?"

"Yeah," I started, unsure if I should say what exactly went on or not; I could have been considered crazy for my words, as true as they might've been. "He's, um, very popular with the girls and as you saw, he can fly too. He's called a super hero by everyone since he's always fighting crime or whatever."

He was always fighting innocent people as well, but I decided to omit that fact so he wouldn't freak out as much. As I thought of it, I was also never told that he would bite everyone that defied him or did something he didn't like to death, probably because I got my explanation from a fangirl. "Huh... What?!"

Seeing as what I said made no sense whatsoever to a normal person, he reacted like that as he stared at me confusedly. "It's weird, I know, but that's how it is around here. I guess this is your first time in Namimori?" I tried sounding casual in an attempt to lighten the mood, but I felt a bit awkward while doing it: I didn't find the information I was giving to him normal either!

"I actually used to live here..." He awkwardly answered, looking to the side with a frown.

"O-Oh." Finding out that he actually had more experience in Namimori than myself, I felt very embarrassed that I acted like I was a knowledgeable local. _But if he's finding all of this weird, does that mean Namimori wasn't like this before?_

... If that was the case, then I could only wonder what went wrong in this town. "I only came over to visit my family, but this ended up happening. I guess even if when my face is hidden, I have to run from fangirls anyway..." He sourly looked towards the last of the fangirls trying to catch up to Hibari, visible from this blind alley. _Huh?_

"T-That must be tough," I commented, trying my best to see if I could identify the boy in front of me. I couldn't find anything that would particularly grab my attention, so I gave up and decided to ask him directly: "Do you happen to be someone famous?"

_Maybe you're not since Hibari doesn't seem to be famous outside of Namimori and its neighboring cities._ Despite very rarely reporters coming by for Hibari (I've only seen it happen on my first day but I've heard it happened other times), nothing related to him would be broadcasted for unknown reasons; he would never answer them anyway, and some would even end up injured so that was probably for the best.

Either way, I could only wonder why nothing was shown on TV: I wanted to ask him that, but even attempting to approach him would be suicidal so I decided that was a bad idea and gave up. "W-W-W-What?! W-Why would you think that?! I don't look like one, right...?!" From the reaction, I assumed that was a yes but I decided I was better off not saying that.

"N-No, of course not, I just thought you could be since you mentioned having to run from fangirls... Maybe your town happens to have them as well? The fangirls in Namimori are especially rabid, you see." Since asking him directly wasn't going to work, I politely gave him excuses he could pick from so as to calm him down.

He seemed fairly shaken when I asked him that question, so I was probably better off not insisting with it. "Oh..." He still seemed nervous, but not as agitated as before. "Well, t-there's this idol who lives in the same town, so I have to avoid them as well." _Uh-huh..._

"Wow, then you must be quite wealthy to live near a famous person," I remarked in surprise, but I wasn't surprised at all to hear what he had said. Despite his occupation being none of my business, I was too curious not to try finding out who he was.

_Well, he brought it upon himself._ After all, he was the one who mumbled stuff like, 'Even when my face is hidden, I have to run from fangirls anyway,' or whatever, so it was only natural to be confused and curious at the same time. "N-Not really...!"

"Besides, you must be at least acquainted with that idol if you really need to hide your face, no?" It was already obvious that I didn't believe him, but I couldn't simply say that straight away so I could only hope he wouldn't start grasping at straws so he could hide whatever he was hiding.

_Maybe I'm complicating things... Pressing on with the main questions might've worked better than this._ But now that I was resorting to this tactic, I would stick to it until it was apparent that it didn't work. Besides, pressing on could've worked worse than this tactic and I wouldn't want to risk it. "Ah, well...!" He looked like he was scrambling for things to say, but couldn't find them. "You found me out, didn't you...?"

In the end, he decided to give up while looking at me sourly. "Yup," I simply answered, despite how it wasn't as polite as how I had been talking before.

He sighed and stood up, his eyes to the ground before looking up at me again. "Fine." I didn't know why he said that, but he then glanced around as if to check if we were alone and took off the hood, revealing red hair and green eyes that I wasn't able to spot before. "Are you happy now?"

I could recognize his face from somewhere, but I didn't know where. _Where have I seen this guy before...?_ The first thing that sprang to mind was posters, but it was a fairly blurry memory of having seen them somewhere. _How did I even spot those?_ I then remembered how it wasn't me who had noticed the posters but my old friends who pointed them out and chatted about the concert they were advertising.

**. . .**

"Oh." I finally remembered where I had seen him before, and found that I was very stupid for not having noticed before. **"Oh,"** I uttered again, but this was louder than the other one. I took a step back as I pointed at him, my eyes wide in surprise. "Y-You're that one music idol my friends really like...!"

It wasn't just my friends who happened to really like him: most girls liked him as well, and he was fairly talked about throughout the school I used to be in. Maybe girls also talk about him in Namimori, but everything had been so hectic that I never did notice that. "What was your name again...?" I mumbled, having truly forgotten it.

He had only recently become this famous (although apparently he had been around for a while) around Japan, even having some fans overseas as well. As much as my old friends talked about him, I didn't pay much attention since I liked other kinds of music. "Shou... Uh..." I could see him staring at me, confused with my reaction.

"Wait, so you didn't actually find out who I was?!" _So that's why he was like that!_ Seeing as when he was revealing himself he acted as if I would be pretty excited to see his face, he probably assumed I was a fan who suspected it was him to the point of trying to indirectly conclude it was him after all... as complicated as _that_ sounded.

_Ugh..._ "Um, I only knew for sure that you were famous, but not that you were that super popular idol I've heard about..." _And I still can't remember his name!_ I never considered myself to be that forgetful, but it was simply ridiculous how I had forgotten the name of the currently most popular idol that my old friends would constantly be talking about!

Maybe it was because I wouldn't fully listen to their conversations on it; in exchange, I wouldn't bring up anything related to my musical tastes. This wasn't some sort of deal we had made, it really just worked like that; I didn't care much for talking about the music I liked anyway. "So you had no idea..."

"Yeah..." I let that drag out since it was still a fairly awkward situation. Besides, he didn't seem that happy with having needlessly shown his face to someone; he was probably trying to keep a low profile. "By the way, I don't really remember your name so would you mind telling me? I'm sorry to bother you with this question but I might as well know."

He took a while to answer, almost as if taking in what had happened in this blind alley. His frown dissipated within that time, but he still seemed a bit nervous. "It's Shoichi Irie," he said, his tone awkward as if what he had said was strange: he probably didn't have to introduce himself that much. "If you don't even know my name, then I can safely assume you're not a fan. Since you're the only one who found out I'm here, and you look like you know about how this town works, I'd like to ask for your help moving around here."

"... Huh?" Confused, I only stood there and waited for a better explanation as to what kind of help he wanted. I would've immediately told him to look for better help if he was a regular person but since he was a super famous idol who most likely wanted to keep a low profile, I could assume he was asking for my help because there wasn't anyone else available.

_It better not be something hard..._ "Well, um, you saw what happened back then, and you did say the fangirls in Namimori were especially rabid. There's more than just those dangers in this town, aren't there? I'd like to avoid them, if possible; I don't want to be running from fangirls again, that's for sure. So, I want you to come with me so you can help me moving around this town. I don't really have anyone else to ask..."

"Oh, I see," I said as I nodded. Seeing as his guess about there being more strange things to Namimori than extra rabid fangirls was correct, I could understand why he would worry about what would lie ahead of him. Basically, he wanted me to accompany him so I could make sure he would avoid all the strange things in Namimori: I did happen to have nothing to do since my walk was interrupted, and it was just a Sunday so... "Anyway, you mentioned that you were going to visit your family so you know your way there, right? If so, you can just lead the way and I'll go."

Shoichi immediately looked relieved, almost as if he had thought I was going to refuse. "You will?! Thank you!" _Although I did say I was doing it, it feels kind of weird to just help out a super popular idol and nothing else..._

"Sure, but can I ask you something in return? It's nothing big so you don't have to worry that much." Despite my words, Shoichi tensed, seemingly expecting something that I was definitely not going to ask for. "Well, I have some friends who are fans so they would probably be really happy if I happened to have gotten your autograph; could you do that?"

Seeing as I really didn't have something I wanted from him, I got reminded of my old friends and how much they would've liked to have an autograph from him; if I didn't ask Shoichi for this, I would feel like I betrayed them by not taking that opportunity. He stared blankly for a while before answering, "Uh, alright. I don't have to do anything else, right?"

Somehow, I had a feeling he thought I might've been lying but I decided to ignore that since it would only make me angry. "No, just that. Anyway, the fangirls already passed by so we should get out of here now."

It might have seemed weird for me to accept something that would subject me to the strange things of Namimori but really, there wasn't much to watch out for in the streets: if anything, the places to watch out for the most would be the school and the neighborhood I happened to live in since Tsuna lived there as well; somehow, he seemed to (involuntarily) attract everything that was weird about Namimori to him so it was a fairly 'dangerous' area.

"Ah, yeah. Let's go," Shoichi said as he put up his hood again and headed out before me. Besides, Hibari had probably already taken care of whoever he was biting to death so that threat was basically gone, leaving for a small albeit still plausible chance of a lot of strange things happening on the way to wherever Shoichi's family's house was.

_I get to have my walk and make my old friends pass out from happiness too: it's two birds with one stone!_ I confidently walked behind him as I thought this, being sure that nothing truly strange was going to happen.

But then again, when it came to Namimori, things would never go my way, would they?

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**Author's Notes:**

* * *

I hyped this chapter a bit since it was about what inspired me to write this story but really, the fact that out of all my weird ideas, Shoichi being a famous singer was the one that made me write this story is pretty surprising but it's true: one day, I just wondered to myself, "What if Shoichi was one of those really famous idol guys?" Because of that, I had the mental image of some OC reacting to that, which made me think of what would Hibari be like if he was a super hero; deciding that I couldn't have Tsuna as a main character (and Shoichi already had something weird to him), I chose having an OC and wrote this story.

So yes, Shoichi was literally my source of inspiration for the story but Hibari's super hero idea did come right after that. I only didn't make a Shoichi chapter first because the super hero idea seemed more hilarious and the fact that Shoichi's chapter was way harder than it seemed: it took a long while for me to plan this chapter and what was supposed to be the first chapter ended up being chapter 57! Anyway, the next chapter will be a continuation of this one, and I hope it will be more entertaining since it'll have more action to it; a lot of this chapter was Observer-chan talking to Shoichi but it did have a pretty good start.

At first, I was going to have a much more detailed start to this chapter but that was very complicated and boring so I went for the approach of dropping you right into the action; you didn't need details to what was happening to Hibari anyway. Anyway, look forward to the next chapter?


	54. Chapter 50

**First Words:**

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I think I lost 1 or 2 followers while I was procrastinating, but I'm not really sure since I was, at the time, procrastinating...

Whatever the case, I had fun writing this chapter, but, I don't know, I'm not so confident about it. In times like these, I start thinking, "Hey, at least it wasn't as bad as Chapter 25!" because really, I still don't like Chapter 25: I've starting liking all chapters I used not to like except for that one, so you can see that I'm serious about what I said. So yeah, if you got through Chapter 25, than this story doesn't get worse than that, really. Anyway, this chapter runs for a long time but then again, I think it should since it's not like we'll be seeing Shouichi every day, especially because he's very busy! x.x

I find that the fun facts were strangely harder to write this time around, so I apologize if they're kind of, uh, not as good as most others.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Hibari, as a super hero, usually shows up when he can sees that the peace in Namimori is being disturbed: in this case, Gokudera was doing that with the whole chase so that made Hibari act and consequently bite him to death. Why would he then want to bite Observer-chan and Shouichi to death, you ask? Because in Hibari's perspective, they also contributed to the disruption of the peace so he thought it was totally okay to bite them to death!**

**\- When it was mentioned that Lambo was at Shouichi's family's house, I was obviously making certain cannon events happen, though you don't really get to see said events in here. Seeing as Shouichi suffered... drastic changes of circumstances, the outcome of these events could change, no? Not that you'll see that when they happen since we're in the perspective of Observer-chan.**

Anyway, enjoy! ^^

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**Chapter 50: The longest and most dangerous favor I had to do ever**

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Despite having been confident when we first headed out, I started to have a few worries about the task I thought would allow me to kill two birds with one stone. We had already walked a bit, but the path was basically identical to the one I would take to go home, so I could only fear that his family's house would be located near mine.

And, if it was located near mine... "Such a coincidence to meet you here!" That upbeat voice was unmistakable.

"H-Haru?!" She dashed towards me cheerfully, waving her arm. _Why did you have to show up now?!_

I couldn't just tell her to go away, but I also couldn't let her find out Shouichi's identity so I had no idea of how to handle this situation. "Who is this person? I don't think I've ever seen him before and I know everyone in Namimori," she said as she curiously stared at him, making us (Shouichi and I) both nervous.

Not wanting him to talk to her, I tried to come up with something, "Ah, he's, well..." I stumbled a bit with my words as I thought about some lie to tell, but that immediately stopped when I had what I considered a very good one. "He got lost and asked me for directions! So I'm taking him to where he thinks his family's house should be."

"Oh, I see!" I nodded, proud of how well I had lied to her. "If that's the case, then I could narrow down the location of the house for you!" Haru said, seemingly happy due to thinking that she was being helpful to us. As I thought about it, it would be impossible to pull off that lie without this happening since she had all information related to Namimori so, in other words, I had failed completely.

The pride I had for how I had handled the situation crumbled apart as I became nervous again. "Huh?" Both Shouichi and I let this out in reaction to her offer, unable to think of any other ways to get away from Haru.

"It's this person's family's house, right? Then as long as I know his name and general area that they would be in, I can tell you exactly where it is! I could take you there too!" Seeing Haru so happy only made it worse for us since we wanted to drive her away, as at least I could imagine her being either very disappointed, surprised or sad if we were to tell her we didn't need her help.

It was simply too pitiful to have her leave, but we weren't just going to tell her the truth either. "Uh..." Since I was out of ideas, I found myself with nothing to say. Noticing this, Shouichi looked fairly panicked, but he wasn't saying anything; he probably didn't want to do anything that would get him any more attention than he already had.

Besides, maybe Haru happened to be a fan of Shouichi as well? Because of this, he probably knew that it was risky to speak up. "Is something wrong?" She asked, worriedly staring at us as she tilted her head to the side.

_Damn it, we have no reasons to refuse, so..._ Shouichi and I glanced at each other, almost as if trying know what the other was thinking. That didn't work since Shouichi was no Zakuro, but I could only hope that we were on the same page. _I guess we have no choice but to..._

**"Run!"** I shouted and, as I saw how shocked Shouichi was by that, I grabbed his hand and started running, knowing that he hadn't seen this coming. _I'm sorry, Haru! I had no other choice!_

I didn't even look back, knowing that I would feel bad if I did so. After all, it's rude to simply leave like that, especially when doing that to a friend. Even so, there was really nothing more I could come up with to protect Shouichi's identity, and I doubted Shouichi would take care of that. "Hahii?!"

I could hear that from a distance, making me even more motivated to run and not to look behind me. "Why did we suddenly start running...?!" He asked, making me finally stop and catch my breath.

"Because there was no other choice. Haru knows a lot, especially if it concerns Namimori; if anything, it wouldn't be weird if she knew that you were going to secretly visit your family," I explained, leaving out less scary details like how naive she could be regardless of all the information she possessed.

I mean, I couldn't just tell him that we ran away because I couldn't come up with anything! "Are you serious? How would she know all that anyway? Besides, she seemed to know you well too..."

"Ah, well, she does happen to be my friend..." I muttered, hoping that he wouldn't say anything about me being friends with someone like Haru. Just to make sure that wouldn't happen, I immediately said, "anyway, I have no idea where she gets all her information but I'm sure we'll be okay because she's pretty much harmless. With that in mind, we should-"

"Yo!" Before I could tell Shouichi that we should move, I was cut off by Yamamoto, who came up to me with a cheerful smile. "Oh, looks like I interrupted something, sorry for that." He scratched his head while chuckling apologetically. "Is he a new friend of yours? You're always all over the place so that wouldn't surprise me."

_Just because I'm always in sticky situations, it doesn't mean that I'm 'all over the place'!_ Besides, I would never voluntarily get into sticky situations so what he had told me was a bit insulting, but I knew he didn't mean it. If anything, I was sure he had no idea that I wouldn't voluntarily be in a lot of strange situations that he wouldn't consider strange at all.

"I'm not really 'all over the place'," I said with a frown of disagreement. "And this person is lost, so I'm taking him to where he thinks his family's house is." Although this hadn't worked on Haru, I was sure that it would work on Yamamoto for the simple reason that he didn't have information on everything in Namimori.

I could tell Shouichi wasn't too confident in the lie I had already failed to use but now that I had said it, there was no going back. "Oh, alright! I was on my way home from Tsuna's place, but I could help you guys out if you want." _Oh, come on!_ Shouichi's blank stare further reinforced my frustration as I cursed that seemingly good lie in my mind.

"Oh no, there's no need for you to do that." Despite my frustration, I tried to be calm and polite, especially since Yamamoto was only being nice to us. "I can handle this just fine." _Hopefully..._ After all, it didn't seem to be going as well as I had thought it would when I had agreed to it, so I couldn't say those words truthfully.

I even tried smiling confidently to make myself look more reliable, so it was obvious that I was trying my best here. Yamamoto chuckled lightly and spoke, "if you say so." _Yes!_ I cheered in my mind, a bit afraid I would make any sort of expression that would give it away. "But, it's midday, you know? Were you helping him find his house all this time? That's bad for you, you've gotta eat lunch!"

With the smile I was trying to reproduce when wanting his trust, he got a lunch box out of a bag that I noticed he had on his back along with the slender bag he had for his baseball bat. "Here, take this! I don't have another one so you've gotta share, sorry for that," he said, smiling sheepishly.

_Who would even bring this up? More importantly, why does he always have so much food?! I mean, it's great food, I'm not complaining here but it's just ridiculous how he always has spare lunch!_ With these thoughts, I reluctantly took the lunch box while gazing blankly at him. _Besides, how did he even know I didn't have any lunch...?_

I had left to go for what was supposed to be a quick walk before lunch at 11:30 am, promising my mother to get back before midday. However, due to the strange situation, I had forgotten about that, now making it impossible for me to keep that promise. _Oh no, mom is probably so mad right now... Well, I brought that upon myself, I guess._ "Thanks," I said while distracted with my own thoughts, not even noticing that Shouichi was looking towards something.

"What are you still doing here?" I immediately started paying attention to my surroundings the moment I heard a familiar voice, belonging to none other than Gokudera. He walked over to us, finally noticing me. "Tch, so you were just talking to her..." He looked at me suspiciously and glanced at Shouichi, making my anger be replaced with worry. "And who's this guy? He looks kinda shady... You better not be plotting something, woman! I've got my eye on you this time!"

_Ugh, why do you have to ruin everything?!_ "I'm not plotting anything, I never was! Can't you ever stop suspecting me?! I'm really starting to get sick of you!" I lashed out, my gaze fierce. Despite that, I was very scared of what he would do to me: after all, he was armed and I had nothing. _I probably shouldn't have said that..._

"What did you just say?!" Gokudera glared at me, and I already knew what he was going to do next.

And, if he was going to do that, then there was no choice but to... **"Run!"** I grabbed Shouichi's hand yet again and started running as fast as I possibly could.

"I'm not letting you get away!" I could already assume that he had dynamite in his hands, so I did not even dare to slow down. _I _really_ should've kept quiet!_

I glanced back which motivated me immensely to run, but it seemed like Shouichi was so surprised that he hadn't done so himself. "Why are we running this time~...?!"

"Because he's fast and he's armed, now run!" This prompted him to finally look back, making him let out a scream and even run past me; it looked like I was going to be pulled this time.

_Damn it, damn it, damn it!_ I could only repeat that in my mind as I found myself presumably being taken through the right path as Shouichi was the one pulling me. Those repeating thoughts immediately stopped when the sound of an explosion was faintly heard, making both Shouichi and I shriek like little girls.

"Why are you acquainted to lunatics...?!" Shouichi asked in panic, glancing back to see Gokudera still going after us. _Damn it, give it up already!_

If only Gokudera weren't fast, we could've lost him, but that wasn't the case at all. Even so, his speed wouldn't even compare to Hibari's, someone I was used to running away from, making us have at least some chances of successfully running away. "It's a long story!" I exclaimed in response to Shouichi's question while noticing that I was starting to get tired. "But putting that aside, are we going the right way...?!"

"I think so!" _What?! You can't just say that when we're being chased by someone with freaking dynamite!_ I could see that we were leaving the residential area that I lived in, which mostly had houses. This is where we were noticing that Gokudera was considerably more distant from us with his chase.

... Unfortunately, that meant there was more dynamite being thrown at us than before in an attempt to take us out despite the distance. "How did he even get those, and why isn't anyone but us bothered about this...?!" He raised a good point, but after months of being in this town, I was already fairly sure that there were two reasons as to why no one would be bothered.

The first one was that they were all used to strange things like dynamite being thrown about. This reason is, believe it or not, the weakest of them because no one would simply get used to those things without feeling like their lives were being threatened 24/7. "Now that you mention it...!" I answered, resisting the temptation to smirk.

From the horizon, Hibari could be spotted flying at full speed towards this area, but he wasn't aiming for me. He was getting to Gokudera's location, and that was for nothing other than to bite him to death.

After all, the second reason the people didn't care as much as they should was because no matter the situation, their super hero would take care of it and 'keep the peace in Namimori,' or so he'd put it. **"Gwaaah!"** Shouichi and I could hear this from a distance, but I didn't turn around like him, running at the same pace.

"What just happened?! Wasn't that the guy the fangirls were after?!" Shouichi asked as I passed him since he had slowed down. I could feel some nostalgia from his reactions, knowing that I did similar ones before.

Even so, as the experienced one, I could not simply pause to reminisce on the past in this situation; I had to look at least somewhat reliable. "Yup, and he took care of him! Now run away before he gets us!"

"Wait, why would he go after us...?!"

"Because he can, that's why!"

"What?!"

I only glanced back slightly, alarmed to see something faintly, something that looked a lot like... "Hibari!" Naturally scared for my life, I looked at my surroundings as I ran. There were many apartment buildings in this area, so one could consider it still part of the residential area I lived in. "Come on, are we close?!"

"Y-Yeah...!" If I had the time to sigh in relief, I would, but I couldn't even attempt such a thing with a very fast super hero after us. _God damn it, if we're actually not even close to the place I'll seriously punch Hibari in the face!_

One could definitely see that the fatigue from running and the fact that we were being chased was taking a mental toll on me: in other words, I was starting to get pissed off! "Damn it, he's gonna catch up to- Huh?" I stopped in my tracks at what I had seen behind me.

Instead of heading to us, he instead turned to a different direction, yet at the same speed he was chasing us with. I could see Shouichi look on as confusedly as I was, as he had stopped running as well. "Maybe he gave up...?" Shouichi suggested, and I immediately shook my head.

"That's impossible. His speed makes it impossible for him to be far enough not to see where we're going, so he couldn't have lost us. Besides, Hibari's not the kind of person to give up like that." I was talking from sheer experience, as Hibari's pride would not simply allow him to give up on things: no matter how I would run or hide, I would end up successfully bitten to death before going home from school.

In other words, something was terribly wrong. "Hello-"

_**"AAAAAH!"**_

Shouichi and I jumped back and turned to the source of the familiar girly voice, one that I was used to hearing. That voice belonged to none other than Kyoko and really, if she was around, what we had seen before had become perfectly clear to me. "Kyoko-chan!"

"Oh, did I scare you again? That seems to happen a lot when I show myself," she noted curiously, as if she had no idea as to why that would happen. _What do you mean with 'when I show myself'? It's like you're suggesting you've been around for a while..._

_... Why did I ask?_ Picking up on Kyoko's weirdness, Shouichi stared at me in worry, most likely nervous about the outcome of this meeting. "Yeah... Anyway, it's nice to see you, but I'm kind of busy now. We're trying to find a certain pla-"

"Do you mean this apartment building?"

"What?!" As both Shouichi and my reactions resounded, we could see the scenery fading away, and the building behind Kyoko was somewhat different to the one we had seen before.

It would seem that she hadn't only tricked Hibari, but us as well... "Haru told me about everything: you running away from everyone, the location you wanted to get to, and even about you, Irie Shouichi-san." She looked straight at him when mentioning her name, further shocking him to the point where he was not even moving a single part of his body.

_Damn it, I didn't know Haru could be that fast with her information gathering!_ "I wanted to talk to you before you could get there, so I had to hide it for a bit. I hope that's alright with you." The innocent expression she had while saying the last sentence actually helped making her seem creepier than she truly was, and it frighteningly reminded me a little of His Divine Presence. _Let's not even go there for the love of everything that is still sane in me...!_

"Who is she...?!" Shouichi whispered, but it was obvious that he really felt like screaming instead.

I hesitated at first, not knowing if it was the right time to explain that. "She's the ultimate roadblock in our trip to your family's place, and by far the most dangerous of them all."

"So she's like a last boss...?"

"Something like that," I answered nervously, hoping that our whispers hadn't reached her. After all, I wasn't in the mood to ruin a friendship that really hadn't taken that much time to be developed in the first place.

Kyoko looked on patiently yet with a hint of curiosity, probably because of how we had been whispering. "Is something wrong?"

"No, it's nothing! Anyway, you wanted to say something, right?" I laughed nervously, being in the comfort of knowing that Kyoko wouldn't pick up on obvious signs of lying like the ones I was sending out.

Shouichi glanced at me due to my unconvincing words, not knowing Kyoko as well as I did. "Yeah, Haru-chan wanted me to tell you that she will only forgive you if you either treat her to cake or wear some costumes she made for you." She was finally smiling by the time she was saying this, making us slightly less tense.

"What?! Can't, can't you tell her that I had no choice and that I deeply apologize?" I meekly requested, not even wanting to imagine the second option.

Kyoko looked thoughtful, as if reminding herself of past events, before answering, "I don't think that would work: she was sulking pretty badly, I got really worried when I saw her."

I sighed. "Yeah, I thought so. Anyway, I'll take care of that problem later so just tell her that I'll text my option and that I'm really sorry, alright?"

"Okay." Kyoko nodded with a small smile on her face. "Oh, and I had something to tell Shouichi-san too!"

Shouichi warily stared at Kyoko, unsure of whether he should say something or not. "What is it?" In the end, he decided to do so, albeit reluctantly.

"Haru-chan told me that Lambo-kun crash-landed in your family's house so I thought you should know that," Kyoko informed. "Anyway, Hibari-kun is closing in on me so I'll see you tomorrow!" She waved cheerfully while fading away, making us blankly stare at the mist left behind.

**. . .**

_Wait, 'Hibari-kun is closing in on me'?_

**. . .**

_... I don't even want to know._ "How was that even possible...?" Shouichi asked, visibly stunned.

"Honestly, it's better if you don't ask about the logic of Namimori." After all, none of it made sense, even the things that had been explicitly explained to me, being too weird to believe.

But then again, I had to witness said unbelievable things with my own eyes so I truly had no choice but to believe them. "But wait, what did she mean with 'Lambo' crash-landing in my family's house?"

"O-Oh, that's just a kid who's... kinda fabulously armed. He won't cause much trouble if you know how to talk to children, I think." These were only assumptions on my part, based on the fact that Lambo seemed to basically act like a spoiled kid with guns... somewhat. Whatever the case, I could only hope that those assumptions were true, since I was trying to reassure him.

Shouichi wore a troubled expression as if analyzing my words and nodded afterwards, still looking fairly displeased. He looked around him, his face unchanging: it was as if he was finally taking in the events that had happened to him. He then turned to me, sighed, and said, "I can't believe Namimori's actually like this now. I bet if I was still like before, I would've fainted from how bizarre this all was."

"Like before?" I blurted that out from the depths of my thoughts without realizing it, and glanced at the floor in embarrassment. _Ugh, it's not even any of my business..._

_But, well, if I hadn't been curious and asked him about what he was saying before, we probably would've gone separate paths, huh?_ "O-Oh, it's nothing, just... Before I was in the idol business, I would get so nervous that my stomach would hurt. It makes me wonder why I even wanted to be a musician in the first place..."

"I see, that's surprising: you're so popular right now that I wouldn't even think about that. But how did you become an idol if you were like that?" After all, if he was going to satiate my curiosity, there was no way that I wouldn't ask him questions.

Besides, I was probably not going to see Shouichi again, so I felt like that alone somewhat justified my questions. "Well, I really wanted to be a musician at first, but then I saw a concert and started aspiring to be an idol instead. At that time, I knew that would be impossible for someone like me, someone who was scrawny and a scaredy-cat with no real appeal. In addition, everyone would also tell me that music didn't suit me, but that made me want to prove them wrong instead. So, I set out to overcome all of my flaws and afterwards, I guess I got lucky."

Despite the way he put it, I could bet that it took a lot of effort for him, especially when everyone around him seemed to be looking down on his ambitions. Really, that alone made him somewhat admirable to me, someone who really had no dream in particular to follow. "I think that outcome was more than just being 'lucky'. Besides, it's nice having something you're passionate about. I don't really have anything myself, but my days in Namimori are so hectic that I haven't really thought about it lately."

I chuckled weakly, not really finding humor in my words but wanting to lighten up the mood nonetheless. "I think it's already amazing that you're able to keep up with everything here. The people with you looked like they were your friends too, so your situation is not that bad, w-weirdness aside. I don't really have people around my age that I can talk to, much less any friends."

_Friends, huh..._ "Then let's just say that we both have ups and downs in our lifestyles, alright?"

"Sure." Shouichi smiled, albeit slightly, and glanced at his family's house, knowing that he had to go there. "Well, thanks for trying to help me, even if that didn't go so well." _Hey, you should be glad I even agreed to take you around!_ "Oh, and about the autographs, I'll just have a few sent to you since I don't really have much to sign on right now. S-So, I'll be going, it was nice meeting you."

He took a few steps towards the apartment building, glancing at it a few times. "Yeah, you too," I replied, but as I did, I noticed that I was still carrying something. _Oh, the lunch box... Yamamoto did give it to me back there. My house isn't that far, so I don't really need this,_ I thought while staring at Shouichi as he started to actually walk towards the building. "Um, wait!"

"Huh?" He turned around, surprise evident on his face. I ignored that and walked up to him, as I looked surprisingly calm for the situation.

I then held out my hand, which had the lunch box in it, and stared at him expectantly. "Take this," I said, "think of it as compensation for the autographs. You probably shouldn't eat it now since I bet you'll have lunch with your family and all but trust me, the food in there is amazingly good so hold on to that for another occasion, okay?"

"But, the autographs were already compensation for-" **"Anyway!** I don't really need this so..." I cut him off, feeling a bit bad about it; despite that, I had much stronger feelings of embarrassment, which were really the cause of me interrupting him.

"... Well, if you insist." He hesitantly took the lunch box, looking at me for a while as he did so. "I guess this is goodbye now."

I nodded. "Yeah. Maybe I'll consider nagging my mother to go to a concert of yours, how about that?" I chuckled, but this time it wasn't just so I could lighten up the mood, but really because I thought it was worth laughing at.

"If your mother could even get the tickets on time, that is; they sell out fast. Anyway, goodbye." This time, he really started walking towards the building, lunch box in hand as he glanced at me a few times. I waved with a smile, my mind ignoring the stressful events that happened before this.

With that, it was over. I stared as he got in and decided that I should really go home, not wanting to be scolded that harshly by my mother. I paced myself towards my house, somewhat knowing the path as it was relatively close by.

I sighed, reminding myself of all that had happened. _Wow, a lot happened today..._ I instinctively checked my phone, only to see that it was hours past midday.

... I sighed once more.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

"It's dangerous to go alone, take this!" I feel like making Yamamoto say this while giving out a lunch box XDD It was strangely important in this chapter, that lunchbox: since I'm always improvising, you can assume that the ending was me improvising as well. Anyway, this was quite the chapter: it felt so long (and it probably was really long too), but it was also pretty fun.

Man, Hibari is so great for jokes XDD Kyoko's also pretty awesome for jokes, but Hibari is just amazing; the fact that he's a super hero makes jokes even easier than before, and he's already great comedy as he is. I really wanted to add Ryohei to the chapter, but I couldn't cram any more characters and I wanted to write Haru too, since I hadn't done so in a while (she didn't participate in the Kokuyo Arc too, so...).

Shouichi and Observer-chan could get along nicely, no? I made a bit of time to have them getting to know each other better, and I really hope you liked that because I did. A lot. I'm not gonna pair them together though, so don't get your hopes up. But really, I enjoyed writing the last part so much, you cannot simply imagine how I liked that; it wasn't as silly nor was it comedic, but damn, it was nice.

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter, which will be an omake!


	55. Chapter 50,5

**First Words:**

* * *

**Edit: At first, I considered this an omake but due to how important it is to the story, I've made it Chapter 50.5 instead: this is not only because I'm too lazy to fix all the chapters after this one if I were to make it Chapter 51 (^^') but also because this chapter is too important to the story for me make it an omake (since it's more than a bonus chapter); every time I think about it, I hesitate. With that in mind, this isn't an omake, but chapter 50.5, which makes it possible that not all .5s will be omakes.  
**

This Chapter is directly linked with the events of the previous chapter, making it very important: I consider it so important to the previous chapter that I hesitated to call this an omake (making me change it back)! But whatever, it's done, it's not that bad and I have the next chapter to focus on for the time being.

... Because, well, the next chapter's gonna be quite the party, _literally... _8D

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Although the pictures _could_ sell for some money, Observer-chan was probably imagining a much higher number than what something like that would really sell for... maybe (fangirls are scary sometimes so really, who knows?);**

**\- Besides, by that time, she had already told her old friends that she would surprise them with something really nice, so she would truly be betraying them if she did such actions. Despite giving the pictures, she had obviously vowed to keep her meeting and everything related to knowing him a secret, since it was fairly clear that having her old friends knowing that would trouble her more than anything.**

Anyway, enjoy! ^^

* * *

**Chapter 50.5: A surprising note in an expected package  
**

* * *

I had finally gotten a certain package from a certain idol I had to take through Namimori. That package, as I relentlessly ripped out the wrapping around it, had autographed pictures of Shouichi and a clean lunch box. There was also a note in it, signed with Shouichi's name, and it read this:

"Here are the autographs you asked for. I'd like to thank you again for trying to help me that day, especially since I hadn't brought anyone along with me so you were the only one I could rely on. I hope we'll keep in touch, though I can't guarantee I won't be too busy to respond to anything you send me.

P.S: That lunch tasted amazing, was it really one of your friends who made that?"

... I confusedly stared at this note, finding one of its sentences, particularly the one about keeping in touch, to be very strange. At least, that was what I thought until I saw, in a corner of the note, an email address: I wasn't sure of how to react to that, so I stared at it for a while, processing that it was most likely from Shouichi.

_"I don't really have people around my age that I can talk to, much less any friends."_

Reminding myself of those words, I had realized that maybe, just _maybe,_ he was asking me to be his friend, or at least someone he could talk to. I could understand why he felt that way, seeing as he probably spent his life working toward his goals more than he did socializing and now that he was an idol, that didn't get any better. Besides, he was fairly normal, and I didn't dislike him either. _I guess I don't really have any reasons to be against this._

Clearing myself of the awkward feelings I had when I first thought about that, I stood up, took a small piece of paper and a pen and wrote said email address in bigger letters. _Alright, there we go..._ Leaving the paper on my desk, I turned to the pictures and the lunch box._ Well, I guess I should send these off to my friends and give this lunch box back to Yamamoto, huh..._

As I thought of that, I noticed that Yamamoto hadn't really said anything about it, despite a few days passing without me returning something that was rightfully his: maybe he had forgotten about it but even if he did, there was no way that I wouldn't return it. Having already an idea of what exactly to do with the lunch box, I specifically gazed at the pictures, the pictures probably being some sort of merchandise that he put his autograph on.

Whatever it was, I didn't really care, having already done a huge favor to my old friends who would get quite the surprise. After all, it wasn't like they could get these kinds of things that easily... _Speaking of that, if he's really famous and all, wouldn't these actually sell for a decent amount of money?_

**. . .**

**. . .**

_... No, let's not think of that. I wouldn't want to betray my friends now._

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

It's amazing that I'm considering this an omake (not anymore, but let's preserve the Author's Notes!) because this part is also really important! Even so, including it in the previous chapter would be impossible so there was really no choice but to do this. Anyway, I had the idea of the omake being about Hibari finding her and biting her to death, but I found that it was more boring to write than I thought, especially when I can't write dialogue between them.

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter since that chapter will definitely be a special one!


	56. Chapter 51

**First Words:**

* * *

This story has gotten 4 more favorites and 2 more followers since the last chapter, hell yeah! ^^

Well, if you look at the date this fic was published(**Edit: Actually, it might tell you that this fic was published on March 23rd but in my Manage Stories thing, it says that it was on March 22nd and so does Observer-chan's profile, so don't be fooled, this fic's birthday is on March 22nd!** **^^'**), then you'll know just how special this chapter is. Oh yes, it's this fic's birthday!

_**This fic is one year old now, woohoo! I'm celebrating so hard right now you don't even-**_

With that in mind, this Chapter is a special chapter, as its purpose is to celebrate this joyous day: it's really just a _very_ long version of a normal chapter that constantly reminds you of the fact that it's this fic's birthday but whatever, that just means that it keeps to this fic's normal quality. This is such a milestone for me: I never thought I'd be writing this for a year! I always thought I would've gotten a major Writer's Block at Chapter 20-something but it looks like I was really wrong there; I mean, this is Chapter 51! Speaking of that, why are my most important chapters the ones with odd numbers? I mean, first it's chapter 43 and now it's chapter 51... Geez, I don't even like odd numbers that much! Anyway, I'll just leave you with the (unfortunately not as special as they should be) fun facts for now.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Observer-chan had always been fairly well-behaved, so her parents never worried much about her. She would only get into some trouble due to her reckless nature in some circumstances, but it wouldn't bring about anything special. Now that she has moved to Namimori and has been doing all sorts of things she normally wouldn't do that would go against what had been decided by her parents, they're starting to think that this is her rebellious phase. Oh, if only they knew why she had to do said things...**

**\- As you might notice from the narration and other things, Observer-chan's flames are purple: in other words, she has Cloud flames. I've actually deliberated a lot on which flame she should have, unsure if she should actually have Lightning flames or not: in the end, I felt like Lightning flames didn't fit her as much as Cloud flames, which is why she's like that. Another flame I considered for her was Mist, but she just doesn't fit the mysterious and sneaky image so I ruled that out as well.**

Enjoy! 8D

* * *

**Chapter 51: My first birthday in Namimori**

* * *

March 22nd.

It was a special day for me, and I had a pretty good reason to think that. Even repeating that day in my mind had somewhat of a special ring to it that I couldn't quite place. _Ah, 14 at last..._

I stretched as I thought that, unfortunately having to go to school. I was already wearing my school uniform and had my school bag on my shoulder, ready to leave. I went through the door and headed downstairs, where my parents would surely be.

As I walked to the dining room, I greeted, "good morning." I opted for not saying anything that would indicate what day it was, keeping a straight face. _Not that they'd ever forget about today..._

"Happy Birthday!" From the English to the higher pitched voice, I could tell that there was a guest I knew well in the dining table, having stood up from the chair she had been sitting on the moment she had seen me. "Ah, and of course, good morning!"

I pondered on what reaction was best for the situation, considering my parents' presence in the room. "Haru, you were here?" I asked, wondering why I hadn't noticed anyone coming in while I was getting ready for school.

"Well, I felt like it would be more special if I surprised you a little. Was that bad? Your parents didn't mind..." Haru glanced at my parents, looking apologetic: my mother was smiling while my father chuckled, though I wasn't sure if it was because of Haru or what had happened in general.

If anything, I could bet that it was Haru: my father was easygoing enough for that. "If you have friends who will come for you like this, then I can see your life in Namimori is going well," my mother commented, "even if you've gotten more rebellious these days..." _If only you knew, mom, if only you knew..._ "Haru-chan, I'm counting on you to make sure she doesn't get in trouble, alright?"

"O-O-Of course! I'll try my best!" Both my mother and my father chuckled from her flustered reaction and cheerful comeback, as they probably found her antics to be amusing. If only they were aware that she was a master information-gatherer...

_But maybe they're better off not knowing; I don't think that would do me any good._ If anything, it could prove disadvantageous to me, seeing as making your parents find out just how weird your friend happens to be is not a good idea. "There's no need to worry that much for her: every teenager has to cause a bit of trouble for their parents in their life, and it looks like now's her time to do it. It's not like warriors have never been injured by their own blades while training their own skills," my father said so as to go easy on Haru, seeing that she had reacted in such a way.

I wasn't even questioning the metaphor, since it was routine for me. After exactly 14 years of living with my father, it was hard not to be used to that kind of thing: that was simply how my father was. "I see, I'll take those wise words into account!" _Wise?_ I could not simply link such a word with my father.

"You're welcome. See? Though the blade may rust, the warrior's experience will remain within his heart," my father said as if to prove that his metaphors were good, but it didn't really work. My mother and I stared at him blankly, not finding anything particularly wise about what he had said: wouldn't the blade still have a worse performance while rusted, despite the warrior's experience? Even if a skilled warrior can win with a rock against a weak warrior with a sword, getting a new blade would clearly be the best solution if one was attainable. "Anyway, I'll be late for work if I stay any longer. Sorry for not being able to stick around for your special day. But then again, you'd rather hang out with your friends than with good ol' dad, right?"

After proudly finishing his breakfast, which I had only now noticed was on the table, he stood up, probably leaving the dish for my mother to wash. "See you later," I said, and he reciprocated those words, leaving the room afterwards. I didn't need to hurry for school as much as he needed to hurry for work, seeing as it would start at an earlier time and was farther away from home: this made the mornings we'd talk brief, so it was only possible for me to talk to him at late afternoon or evening.

"Wow, your father is so cool!" Haru said excitedly, confusing both me and my mother.

_Cool?_ If anything, we were so used to his antics that we thought it was lame, but it would sometimes make us laugh, if anything. "Well, he certainly would've been happy to hear that." I nodded at my mother's words, as we were both imagining his reaction: seeing as no one would often complement him in such a way, he definitely would've been happy to hear that. "Anyway, aren't you going to eat?"

I noticed that I was still standing up and that my plate was the only one full on the table. "Oh, sorry about that." I awkwardly sat down, hoping that it wasn't cold already. "Haru, you can go ahead if you don't have any more time to stick around. We can find something to do after school instead," I suggested, not wanting to cause Haru any problems.

Haru happened to attend a different school, and although my school was fairly close to this area, I wasn't so sure about hers since I didn't know about it. "Oh, that's fine! I don't really need to-" Interrupting her was a cellphone ringing, and it wasn't mine, nor was it my mother's.

... It seemed to be Haru's, who had moved so swiftly that it was hard to tell where she even got her cellphone from. It seemed to be natural for her to act in such a way, since she didn't say anything about it as she checked what it was. It wasn't a phone call, as it only rang once: it was a message, one that she had read just as fast as she got the phone out. "Hahii, I completely forgot! I'm sorry but I will have to leave you right now, I'll see you later!"

"Huh?" I uttered as she dashed out of the room, having not fully processed that she was leaving. "See you later, I guess..." _Well, that was fast._

My mother stared on at where she had left from, making the mood quite awkward as I ate my breakfast out of pressure for not being late. "You should probably tell her you don't surprises," my mother remarked, "she'll end up wasting effort for nothing if you don't."

I swallowed what I was chewing and replied, "are you sure she's planning on holding a surprise party for me?" I sighed, already knowing the answer. Haru probably was planning on that, and others like Kyoko were most likely involved as well.

I did not like surprise parties. When I was little, I would fall for them easily but after a few years, it became predictable and I no longer wanted to be avoided and tricked for the sake of eating some cake, receiving gifts and enjoying the company of my friends and family later on. Besides, I just didn't like being surprised in general: it was better for me to know exactly what was going on instead of having to guess myself, as it made me uncomfortable and nervous.

"Who knows? You're her friend, you should know her better than me." Despite my mother's words, I was pretty sure she did know. She always had good intuition, so good in fact that it was hard lying to her. Unfortunately, her intuition wasn't good enough to discern that _God Himself_ was behind all of the things I had done, so she wasn't guessing those parts correctly.

But then again, I wouldn't say that not guessing that correctly was due to her intuition being bad: instead, it would be fair to argue that it was because no sane human being would attribute the things that happened to me to such weird causes! "Well, yeah... Fine, I'll get to it."

I sighed in resignation and focused on finishing my breakfast. _A surprise party, huh... That would be a bother._

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

Despite my best efforts to quickly finish breakfast so I could catch up to either Haru or Tsuna and the others, it seemed like I was too late. I sighed, a disappointed frown on my face. _I couldn't catch up to them again..._ Although I wasn't too keen on admitting it, I was actually starting to enjoy the very loud noise of having strange people beside me as I walked to school, and the diverse emotions I'd feel talking to everyone: however, the times where I could walk with them weren't that frequent.

Since I'd usually not be out of my house that early, it was hard catching up to them, making me have to go to school alone like this time, except that this was my birthday: I didn't want to walk alone on such a day. If anything, I just didn't want to 'catch up to them' in general: after all, if I had to do something like that, did that mean they'd be unwilling to 'wait' for me?

**"O, pitiful one..."** Interrupting my thoughts, an echoing, deep voice called, not too loudly and yet not too quietly either._ Huh?_

As I looked around to see who it belonged to, I alarmingly noticed the scenery changing: the streets became darker, buildings seemed to be on the verge of collapsing and the path I was going to take had been blocked off by debris. There was only way I could go to, and eerily, that was where I thought the voice had come from. "What?!"

Well, things had gotten weird really fast, and just when I had a feeling something was going to happen too. _Maybe I'm developing a weird-stuff radar or something..._ "Kyoko-chan?" I called out, having thought of no one else who could do those kinds of things.

**"O, powerless one..."** As the voice insulted me again, I figured that it definitely wasn't Kyoko. But, if it wasn't Kyoko, then that could only mean that the illusion came from someone else. _Oh no..._

Even so, it didn't seem like I had much of a choice but to move in the direction that the voice wanted me to, hoping that it wasn't there to kill me. _Well, I do have Holy Protection, so..._ I could also simply do what I did with Mukuro's illusions, but it would risk worse or even deadlier illusions being casted on me if I were to do such a thing.

I reluctantly moved over to the source of the voice, who had spoken no more. The silence was eerie and the atmosphere heavy, making it hard for me not to feel somewhat scared of what was at the end of the path.

It didn't take me that long to reach a dead end to said path, blocked by a very high, sturdy wall. I turned around at the sound of something heavy falling, noticing the debris behind me that were blocking my way back. _Oh come on!_

"I'm here so just show yourself already!" I shouted, knowing that I was being watched. Besides, I was getting frustrated since I had no idea of who was behind this, and I didn't particularly like being called by insults all the way over to a dead end without knowing what was going on.

I stood there for a while, as the silence continued. Slowly, the darkness that covered the streets was dissipating, and so were the debris. I could already see sunlight, which comforted me for the fact that it meant the illusion was going away.

... But, to kill my joy, dark mist suddenly surged from the air, and from it appeared a mask: it was a red mask, one of those kids wouldn't buy in festivals for sure. If anything, it reminded me of mythological creatures, evil ones at that. Beyond that mask was what seemed to be a body, but it also seemed to be red as far as I could see, as it was covered by a black, long cloak.

Overall, the thing that had spawned in front of me looked amazingly creepy, and I would be lying if I said I was perfectly calm when I saw it putting itself together... if it was even a person. _Is this an illusion too?_ For the first time, I was actually hoping that it wouldn't be what was truly in front of me, but things never did go my way, did they?

It stood there, staring straight at me soullessly, making me wonder on what it was going to do. The illusions probably came from it, but they were mostly gone so I did not understand if it was going to hurt me or not: seeing as the debris behind me were gone, I could only assume that it wouldn't do that just so it could chase me right after going through the effort of luring me.

I flinched when I suddenly noticed it stretching out its arms to me, which seemed to be holding something. It was a moderately sized box, with white gift wrapping and a lavender ribbon that tied it, just like what you would see from generic presents. I stared at it in complete confusion, unsure of what to think. _Is this...?_

**"Take this,"** it said, the voice definitely being the same one I had heard before. It didn't seem to have a discernible emotion, instead being only assertive in tone. **"Happy birthday..."**

... The same tone was maintained even while congratulating me, making for the most awkward thing I had ever heard in all my birthdays. It also signified that it didn't particularly do it out of seriously feeling happy for me, but probably because it had to: that also made me assume that the present it was holding did not come from it, but from someone else.

In other words, the thing that had come out was only sent to congratulate me in place of whoever had given me the present. With that deducted, I only needed to know just who had done such a thing. _Well, there's no way it would be Tsuna and the others, so-_

**"Take this,"** it repeated, its voice louder and more intimidating in tone, interrupting my thoughts and reminding me that I still hadn't taken my mysterious birthday present.

**. . .**

I stared at it awkwardly for a while, figuring that it was probably going to force me to take it if I were to refuse it. Whatever the case, it seemed to be harmless despite how creepy it looked.

**. . .**

At the exact instant I had grabbed the box by its ribbon, the mask thing dissolved in the mist it had originated from, making me jump back from how sudden it had been. With that mist, the wall in front of me had also disappeared, revealing Namimori Middle School. _I was this close to my school? Huh, didn't I stray away from the path?_

_Maybe I was shown a shortcut or something? It doesn't look like this is where I'd usually come from..._ With my vacant hand, I got my phone out from my pocket and checked the time. It seemed like I still had some time before class, which was certainly amazing for the time that I would usually take to get to school. _Well, this is nice._

I put my phone back and held the box with my two hands, staring at it curiously. I had time before classes, so I was tempted to open the box to see its contents. _Maybe later..._

**. . .**

**. . .**

_Ah, whatever, I'll just open it now._ Failing to resist said temptation, I carefully tore through the ribbon and wrapping, revealing an equally white box under them. I raised an eyebrow as I opened the box, and within it was...

_A dress? What?_ Over it was a note and a very small box but it was still obvious that it was a dress. The dress was white (of all things) in color, and though it was neatly folded, I noticed that it was a strap dress that also had a black ribbon on the area of the waist sewn onto it, its color contrasting with the dress.

I kept staring at the dress in disdain, not liking said birthday present at all. It wasn't that the dress wasn't pretty in general, it was simply that it didn't appeal to me at all: I never liked dresses that much, and darker colors had always been better-looking to me. If anything, I would've liked it a lot if it were a tunic with the colors reversed, but unfortunately, that wasn't what I had gotten.

Giving up on finding positive things to say about the dress, I decided to read the note instead of checking the small box right away, wanting to find just who had the terrible idea of giving me a dress. I took it out with a blank gaze and started reading:

"Happy birthday! You've lived another year because of me. I thought it would be inconsiderate of me not to do something for you in a special occasion like this, so I gave you two wonderful presents! Unfortunately, I can't simply go down to Earth just for you, so I made Torikabuto do it for me: he's your Holy Protection too, so don't worry about him.

You might be wondering what your presents are for: they'll both come in handy for you so don't throw them away! I bet you don't like the dress I got for you but trust me, you'll thank me later. The ring is also very important so don't lose it! Well, you won't need it for now, but you'll know what it can be used for later.

Love,

Byakuran"

**. . .**

Next to his signature was a heart drawn in the simplest manner possible, and that was most likely on purpose; I sighed. _How did I not guess this earlier?_ I crumpled the note into a ball from simply reminding myself of the times I had gone to Heaven, frowning as I looked at the small box. That was probably where the ring he had mentioned was, I noted, as I put the crumpled paper on the dress out of laziness and took the small box. Opening it, I found that it did have a ring on it, and it looked like something I wouldn't want to wear out since it was a bit showy.

While the ring was silver in color, it had a purple stone adorning it, with silver wings on both its sides, making it seem like the wings belonged to the stone. Purple and silver weren't bad colors, I just didn't like the design: why was it so important anyway? _And why would the dress be important too? Damned Byakuran..._

Since Divine Logic was too complicated for me to understand, I simply closed the small box, put it back in place and closed the bigger box, carrying it with me on my way to school. The box wasn't going to fit in my school bag so I unfortunately had to carry it with my hands, hoping that wouldn't cause me trouble.

_Damn it, Byakuran, couldn't you have just given me this in the afternoon or something? That would've been convenient..._

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

It was lunch break now and, as per previous negotiations, I was going to have lunch in the Reception room: while Kyoko and Hana were already there, Tsuna and the others had yet to arrive. Because of that, we were only patiently sitting on the couches, not wanting to start eating without everyone. _Now that I think about it, I have to stop them from holding a surprise party for me... if they're even doing that in the first place._

"By the way, you don't happen to be planning something for my birthday after school, right? Like, I don't know, a surprise party?" My questions were purposely dragged out with a tone that suggested I did not at all believe they were up to something I wouldn't like, which wasn't the case: otherwise, I would've never asked such a question.

**. . .**

They both stared at me in slight surprise, almost as if still thinking about what I had just asked. _Was it really that weird of a question?_

"... How did you figure it out?" Hana broke the silence, her arms crossed as her surprise changed to confusion.

_Was I supposed to not figure that out?_ "Well, it is my birthday, and Haru was acting weird this morning..." I reluctantly explained though I had found no real need to do so; I was simply being courteous.

"And here I thought we would manage to surprise you: you usually get surprised at everything so I didn't think it would go like this," Kyoko said with a disappointed or even saddened expression, almost as if she was watching future memories of all the fun she thought she would have if it happened crumble away in her mind.

_Hey, I don't get surprised at everything!_ I remembered all the times I'd spent in Namimori, frowning as I did so. _Okay, I did get surprised at everything here but come on, I'm pretty sure that's understandable!_ Hana sighed disappointingly, prompting me to say, "you don't have to feel so down because of that: I never liked surprises anyway. If anything, I think this was for the best."

"Wait, you don't like surprises?" More than surprised, Hana seemed tense as she asked that question, almost as if something bad had popped up in her mind. _Did they already prepare everything or something like that?_

_Well, even if they did, it would simply become a normal party and that's not so bad, I guess._ "No, not really," I answered, "what? Is it really that surprising?"

Hana shook her head, her expression serious. "It's not that, it's-"

**_"SURPRISE TO THE EXTREME!"_**

The door was slammed open the instant I heard that loud, shouting voice that obviously belonged to Ryohei. He was the first to come through the door and following behind were Gokudera and Yamamoto, Yamamoto carrying what seemed to be a cake. "Happy Birthday! Yamamoto congratulated me, grinning widely.

_Oh my God, that is a cake..._ A birthday cake at that, but it had taken me time to process this surprise. Tsuna was following behind Gokudera and Yamamoto, smiling at me. Unfortunately, I was still somewhat surprised with what had just happened, so I could only stare at Yamamoto putting the cake down on the table and sitting next to me.

The cake in itself looked fairly modest, neither too big nor too small and with minimalistic decorations, but I didn't mind: it was already amazing that I did have cake brought by them, and I never really liked flashy things anyway. On top of it was written, 'Happy Birthday,' in black._ Black is not my favorite color, but alright..._

"Ah, this is what I was talking about," Hana said as she blankly stared at the cake.

_... So was the surprise party going to be here or is there something I'm missing?_ "Um, happy Birthday," Tsuna congratulated as he awkwardly sat next to me. Kyoko happened to be sitting on the corner of the couch, and Hana was next to her: in other words, there was no possible way for Tsuna to sit next to Kyoko, which is why he resigned to sitting next to me instead.

"Thanks," I replied just as awkwardly, but not because of what I had taken note of earlier: I was still staring at the cake as if it were some sort of foreign object, the fact that it was cake that they had gotten for me not wanting to get through to my mind. "Well, it looks like I did end up getting surprised: I never thought you'd hold a birthday party in a place like this."

Was that even allowed? After all, we were in a school building: it wasn't exactly the most common place for such occasions. "You sound like you already saw this coming," Gokudera noted, eyebrows furrowing as he stared at me.

"That's because I did... sorry." I didn't feel guilty for having known that, but I also couldn't simply tell them words they did not want to hear without apologizing. _Technically, it was all Haru and mom's fault but I guess it doesn't matter, huh._ "But it's better that way, really. Besides, you did surprise me a lot with that entrance..."

If anything, I was sure I was close to having a heart attack when Ryohei had shouted that so loud. "Huh? I didn't do anything special when I entered this room!" Ryohei stated, seemingly surprised by my words... somehow. _So shouting like that is perfectly normal for you?!_

_Actually, why did I even ask?_ "This isn't the surprise party either," Yamamoto added, "I don't bake often so I wanted to do that for once!" Now that he had mentioned it, I had never seen him with any sort of sweets or cakes, much less homemade ones: he would usually have an absurd amount of lunch boxes instead.

"Wait, this isn't it?" I asked in confusion, glancing at the obvious birthday cake. "Then why did you bring out the cake now?" But then again, lunch break wouldn't last long enough to have a proper birthday party so maybe I was supposed to assume they had thought things through.

Whatever the case, I now knew that I was going to be surprised after school, either at my house or possibly Tsuna's since everyone hangs out there. "Oh, this was just a test cake," Yamamoto stated in a very carefree manner. "You'll see the real one at the party!"

_So it's like a prototype or something? Okay..._ "I can't wait for it, it'll be so much fun!" Kyoko said cheerfully but, unlike Haru, she didn't sound too loud while doing so: if anything, it didn't sound loud at all, seeing as her voice had a naturally soft tone.

"So, you baked this cake?" I asked Yamamoto with expectant eyes, hoping for my favored answer. Said answer was, without a doubt, a yes and there were high, if not certain chances of that answer being the one he would say.

"Yeah," he acknowledged, "I hope it doesn't taste too bad." He scratched his head while smiling sheepishly._ If it's you who made it then it automatically tastes great, you can't mislead me!_

As I was about to announce that I was going to try the cake, a thought occurred to mind. "You know, I didn't see anything that resembled a box for the cake or anything like that on you in the morning or on any break. Where did you keep the cake then?" For some reason, I had also voiced these thoughts out loud, but at least they weren't ridiculous or embarrassing.

We weren't in the same class but when I entered school that morning, I actually ran into them as they entered their classroom (in this case, Tsuna, Kyoko, Gokudera and Yamamoto since Ryohei is an upperclassman). At that time, I saw nothing resembling a cake, and their school bags would never be able to store something like that inside them. "Ah, that's-"

Before Tsuna was able to finish what he had said, a floor tile next to the couch had slid to the side as what seemed like a chair had risen up from where the tile was supposed to be. Sitting in that comfortable-looking chair was Reborn, calmly sipping coffee. "Ciaossu," he casually greeted as if he hadn't just come out of a floor tile like some sort of spy movie, "and Happy Birthday."

"Reborn?!" I reacted as I looked at him in surprise, my thoughts of eating the cake fading out from my mind as I focused on what I had just seen. _Where did he even come from?!_

_Besides, I'm pretty sure it's unhealthy for someone his age to be drinking coffee! But then again, he's not just a little kid, is he..._ "I have secret passages everywhere, so I kept that cake in one of them," Reborn explained.

"What is this kid even talking about?" I heard Hana mutter that to Kyoko, glancing at Reborn warily. I decided not to pay mind to whatever Kyoko was going to tell Hana in return as I focused on Reborn again.

_Secret passages? That's kind of creepy..._ "Thanks for that, by the way," Yamamoto said, grinning at Reborn.

"But now that you mention that," Tsuna started speaking to me, sounding curious yet slightly nervous, as if afraid of bringing up topics I wouldn't like, "What is that box you've been carrying around?"

I gave him a questioning look until I glanced at said box on my lap, my lunch box above it. "Hmph, it better not have anything deadly inside," Gokudera glared at the box intently as he said that, almost as if trying to discern its contents without having to open it himself. _Ugh, when will he ever stop getting the wrong idea of me?_

"It's a birthday present," I replied as I took the lunch box from above the box and opened it, revealing the dress, the box and the crumpled note. _I probably shouldn't let them read that..._ "I got a dress..." I let that drag, not wanting to say something negative like how I didn't like dresses: it would've been disrespectful of me to complain about something I got for free that didn't even look that bad to begin with.

I flinched from seeing Reborn jump to a spot in the middle of Tsuna and I, staring at the box. "Who did you get that from?" _Oh, you just had to ask that, didn't you? I'm not going to tell you I got it from God so give it up already!_

"... A relative," I answered, hoping not to sound too nervous: after all, Reborn could see through everything, and I didn't feel like getting confronted about issues pertaining His Divine Presence on my birthday.

I glanced at Reborn, who seemed to still be staring at the box. "If it's from a relative then why are you carrying it around? You could've just left it home," Hana pointed out, giving me a blank look. _Damn it, Hana!_

"Well, t-that's because I ran into that relative on my way to school and I was already far from home so I decided to carry it so I wouldn't be late for classes. He probably left my house by now, since he could only talk with mom there." _There's no way Reborn would believe that, argh!_ I never thought I would feel frustrated or stressed on my birthday, but I guess Reborn definitely proved me wrong there.

_... Can't I just eat some cake and be done with this?_ "I-If you say so..." Tsuna said hesitantly, having obviously not believed my words either but not wanting to insist on the truth.

Suddenly, I had heard my phone ringing at the same time as someone else's. As I took out my own cellphone and saw Tsuna doing the same, our gazes locked on to each other confusedly. "It's a message from Haru," Tsuna noted.

I nodded as we both looked at our own cellphones again to read the message she had sent us. _What would she want with both Tsuna and I?_

"Look out the window ;D"

That was the only sentence written in the message, confusing us further. Gokudera, who had leaned in to read from Tsuna's phone, scowled as he started heading towards the window. "What does that woman want now?"

He looked even more displeased when he looked out the window, making us curious. Tsuna and I stood up and walked over to the window Gokudera had looked through while Gokudera stepped back, seemingly unimpressed.

Our eyes widened in surprise as we saw Haru through that window, waving at us with a cheerful smile. We were a few floors above the ground, and she was outside the school building, in an area most wouldn't cross since there wasn't much there. "Haru?!" Tsuna exclaimed while I awkwardly returned the wave.

I opened the window and shouted, "what are you doing here?! Don't you have school?!" I felt a bit uncomfortable afterwards, hoping that no one outside of the Reception room had heard that.

"It's lunch break so I can go out!" Was her school that close to ours? She never did show any worry over tardiness when accompanying us to the school gates, so that could be the case.

_I guess she also wants to join in? How did she get inside the school anyway, would she really be let in like that despite being from another school?_ Well, if she had encountered Hibari then she would've definitely not have been let in: if anything, she would've been kicked out by the means of being bitten to death. "Hey!"

Tsuna and I tense at the unknown male voice coming from down to the ground, where Haru was. Haru quizzically turned around and eyed the three students that were walking over to her while smirking. They seemed to be upperclassmen, but didn't look very trustworthy in appearance: in other words, they looked somewhat like delinquents. "Those upperclassmen...!"

"I assume they're not good news?" I asked Tsuna, and he nodded nervously in response. _Well, this isn't good..._

Haru talked to them cheerfully at first, but that soon disappeared into an expression of fear. "Hahii!" Having heard that, we both stared at the scene in panic, as one of the upperclassmen had grabbed Haru's wrist.

"This is bad, Haru's in danger!" Tsuna's words made everyone look at us in surprise with the exception of Reborn, whose expression didn't seem negative in the slightest. "What are we going to do?! We can't just save her!"

_Well, actually, we can..._ Considering that Gokudera had dynamite, Tsuna could simply tell him to throw that at them. Not only that, but Yamamoto was also strong, and Kyoko could simply make a distraction and avoid conflict altogether. I hadn't seen Ryohei do anything related to fighting yet but I was pretty sure he could hold his ground as well: in other words, we could've definitely taken care of those upperclassmen; if anything, we would've been overkill for them.

"Of course you can," Reborn said with a smirk on his face. _At least I can agree with him on something,_ I thought, feeling relieved now that I had thought about how it was certain that we could take care of the delinquents.

... Well, excluding me: if it hadn't been obvious already, I couldn't and didn't want to fight seeing as I had no skill or experience in such a thing. "If you use your Dying Will," Reborn continued what he was saying, as he took out his gun. _I can guess where _this_ is going..._

I took a step back as Reborn was about to pull the trigger, not wanting to be too close to a Tsuna with only his boxers on. But, when taking another step back, my other foot hadn't placed itself correctly, clashing with the other one and thus making me trip and fall. **"Aaaah!"**

... As I fell, I saw, directly in front of me and flying in my direction, a red bullet that was supposed to be aimed at Tsuna. In fact, I had fallen behind Tsuna, which was how the bullet was going to hit me instead of him. _No!_

My mind went blank, and I felt no pain. My thoughts were scrambled, all crying out loudly in my head as if attempting to dominate each other. Despite that, one of them emerged victorious, as I still had a bit of eyesight to see a shocked Tsuna, having not been hit by the Dying Will bullet.

He seemed somewhat blurred to me, but that didn't matter; he was still normal. _No one can run to Haru or jump down this height, and Tsuna wasn't hit with the Dying Will bullet...! If he wasn't hit then he can't save her! She'll be in danger...! If I ended up getting hit..._

_... Then _I'll_ have to be the one to save her instead!_ From the cold floor I had fallen to, I rose rapidly, feeling stronger than ever. No other thoughts occurred to me than to get to Haru despite the fact that my clothes, with the exception of my underwear, had been literally (and somehow) burnt off and that I had a purple flame on my forehead.

**"I have to save Haru with my Dying Will!"** In only my plain looking lingerie, I ran towards the window and jumped off. I heard my name being shouted out as I landed on the ground without a single injury, which was something I would've definitely commented on if I weren't in such a state.

Despite my lack of thoughts, I was still able to make sense of the general situation, which was that Haru had been pulled close to the upperclassman that had been holding her wrist before. Haru and the delinquents looked equally shocked to see me, but that wasn't processed as something to note while in Dying Will Mode, so I simply charged at them with a serious expression.

"What the fuck...?!" One of them reacted, but none seemed to be all that intimidated. If anything, as one of them started laughing, the others followed suit. "What's wrong with this girl? Are ya trying to pick a fight like that?!"

With the amazing speed I had been given in the Dying Will Mode, I had punched one of them in the face with enviable force for someone who didn't normally fight, and that was when they had all stopped laughing. **"Be quiet, scum...!"** I uttered, scowling at him with a dark gaze.

"Hahii?! What happened to you?!" Haru asked in worry and shock, emotions that were definitely understandable: it was simply out-of-character for me to say such things out loud, especially while wearing such an expression.

Besides, anyone would care if they had no clothes on, but I wasn't doing such a thing. "You bitch!" I jumped back to dodge a blow from the one who wasn't holding on to Haru, glancing at her.

Tsuna, Kyoko, Ryohei, Yamamoto and Hana were looking out the window, still in shock; I was unable to see Reborn. **"I've got to save Haru, that's my Dying Will!"** Closing in on him at speeds only Hibari or Tsuna in Dying Will Mode could rival, I kneed that upperclassman in the crotch area and kicked him away afterwards, making him fly a slight distance away from the sheer strength and effectively knocking him out.

"T-This girl's no joke...!" I would've denied his words if I were in the right state of mind, but I didn't do so now as all my actions were basically instinctive: barely any thought was put to them, which was what made them so deadly in the first place.

Despite looking panicked at first, the upperclassman, after glancing at Haru, regained his composure and eyed me with a smirk. "Hah! You're strong, I'll give ya that, but your friend over here is in my hands! You know what that means, don't you?"

"I don't care about your meaningless words. **I'll save Haru!"** With a fierce glare, I got behind him and attempted to kick him in the back, only for him to dodge in time and turn around. "Tch..."

A great difference between my Dying Will Mode and how I usually am was definitely the fact that I seemed to be very rude: I would usually keep unfavorable opinions to my own mind, but I seemed to blurt out whatever I would instinctively feel while looking like I was going to kill someone. "I guess I shouldn't expect a girl showing off her assets to listen to reason, huh?"

... If only I cared enough to have kicked in him in the face for that statement at that time. Everyone in the Reception room now looked more serious than anything, spectating what was happening below them. My glare intensified with his words, having deducted that Haru was going to be in more danger. **"Let her go!"** I ordered as the sound of a gunshot could be heard from above.

I paid no mind to it, still focusing on the upperclassman. "It looks like your friend will have to suffer for you to understand!" He took out a knife with his vacant hand and pointed it at Haru. "It's only fair, you beat up my friends too after all!"

"Ha-Hahii!"

**"I'll take care of this fight with my Dying Will...!"** We all looked up to see a calm yet determined Tsuna descend the Reception room with only his boxers on, a sight I had only scowled at.

I never thought Reborn had more than one Dying Will bullet, but I didn't feel betrayed since that wouldn't even occur to mind. "Tsuna-san?! You've come to save us!" While Haru was extremely happy to see him like that, I, for some reason, wasn't feeling the same way at all.

**"You're useless, stay out! I'll save her!"** I shouted at him angrily, but he didn't budge, unsurprisingly enough. It seemed like my dominant thoughts also involved the fact that without the Dying Will Bullet, there was no one to save her except for me. Due to this, it seemed like I shunned others who wanted to take care of the situation instead of welcoming them, which wasn't like me at all.

Tsuna only dashed towards the upperclassman, disregarding my words. "I'll handle this situation," he stated, getting close to the upperclassman so fast that he didn't have time to react before the arm with the knife, which had been defensively extended out of Haru when Tsuna had shown up, had been kicked by him. The upperclassman let go of the knife in pain and Tsuna picked it up, his intense gaze locked onto him.

**"Stop, I'll save her with my Dying Will!"** Tsuna only glanced at me before pointing the knife at the upperclassman, threatening him with it. **"Out of my way!"**

The upperclassman, looking at the knife in fear, let out a scream and let go of Haru to run away, visibly disturbed by what had happened to him. "Damn it!" I heard him shout that as I checked for injuries on Haru.

Now that Haru was free, I had no need to knock him out or chase after him, as I was only doing that so I could save her. I stared at Haru and, seeing that she was definitely safe, the turmoil inside me slowly calmed down, the flame on my forehead extinguishing itself at the same time.

With the Dying Will Mode disappearing, fatigue loomed as I lay on the floor from exhaustion, panting. My thoughts were going back to normal, making me recover my senses and thoroughly analyze the situation. "What just...?"

When I noticed just how cold and dirty the ground felt, I quickly stood up to finally notice that I was in my underwear. _What the hell?!_ I let out a shriek, feeling heavily unprotected. My face was red as I saw that everyone was staring at me, making me look to the floor so I wouldn't have to see that. _Oh no, it's because I got shot with that bullet...!_

_I jumped out a window, beat up two delinquents and lost my uniform!_ Those events dawned on me as I remembered them clearly, my face as white as paper. _I can't believe this! What have I just done?! What am I gonna do about my uniform?! Will those delinquents target me or something?! I'm so doomed!_

I noticed that Tsuna was still in Dying Will Mode, staring at me intently. **"I'll take care of the situation with my Dying Will,"** he stated in determination and suddenly, I was lifted off the ground.

_**"WAAAH?!"**_ Tsuna was carrying me bridal style as he started running, but I had no idea on where he intended to take me. "W-W-What are you doing?!"

_Do this to Kyoko, not me!_ **"I'll take you to the Reception room with my Dying Will,"** Tsuna said. His words made me understand that his 'Dying Will' was probably to take care of the whole situation in general, and that included the fact that I was almost naked and fatigued after knocking two delinquents out. This meant that his Dying Will Mode would probably stop when we'd get there. _But wait, he's gonna run through the school building while I'm only in my underwear?!_

"Don't worry, I'll protect your innocence!" I heard Kyoko shout, her voice still somehow sounding soft while doing so. _Um, okay...?_ I didn't fully understand the meaning of Kyoko's words, so I was still looking around in pure embarrassment as I got carried by Tsuna, who was also only in his underwear.

_Why did this have to happen on my birthday of all days...?!_ "Woah, isn't that No-Good-Tsuna in his underwear carrying a girl?!" I could hear students speaking among themselves in amazement, but none seemed to mention the fact that I was like that as well. _Is this what Kyoko meant with 'protecting my innocence'?_

_If so, then she's practically my savior._ We had quickly reached the hallway where the Reception room was located in, and Tsuna momentarily put me down so he could open the door as we got close to it.

"You're back!" Kyoko happily said as I smiled back at her. _I would've suffered the biggest humiliation in my life if it weren't for you...!_

Looking back at Tsuna, I noticed that his Dying Will Mode was disappearing, the flame on his forehead extinguishing. "I'm so glad it's over..." Tsuna muttered, seemingly tired as well.

"That fight back there was extremely impressive! I knew you had it in you!" Ryohei exclaimed excitedly. "You'd be perfect in the Math Club!" _That makes no sense, just give it up already!_

Hana, with arms crossed and an expression of worry and anger at the same time, asked, "how did you two even do that anyway?! Are you crazy?!"

"It's a magic trick the kid's always doing," Yamamoto explained, probably one of the few people who seemed to be carefree in the room. "Isn't it cool?"

Hana didn't even bother answering that. "You were amazing as always, Tenth!" Gokudera complimented, his expression being the equivalent of what someone would wear if they were to lay eyes on a big statue completely made out of gold.

"By the way, Haru texted me saying that she'd come over here," Kyoko announced with her cellphone in hand. I hadn't even seen her taking it out but in this case, I was assuming that it was her power of illusions instead of simple proficiency with a cellphone. "And also, you're both in your underwear..." Kyoko looked to the side, seemingly flustered.

_Ah, damn it!_ Now that she had mentioned it, I felt cold. "Ah! I-I-I'm sorry, Kyoko-chan! I'll go change!" Tsuna exited out from the door and ran over to wherever he was going to go, somewhat panicked. _Wait, do you have a spare uniform in your bag or something?_

Well, seeing as he had to use the Dying Will Mode frequently, it was probably good for him to take such precautions. "Luckily, you have that dress you got as a birthday present, right? You can wear that; that was probably what it was meant for all along anyway," Reborn suggested.

_... Is he insinuating that Byakuran got me that dress because he knew this would happen? That... actually makes a lot of sense, since he's God and all. But wait, he's not supposed to know that!_ I picked up the box with the dress on it and glanced at Reborn, not amused at how much Reborn seemed to be picking up the truth without having been me telling him about it. "You're right, I'll go do that..."

I turned around but, before moving, I gave one glance at the cake, with still no slice taken from it. _Damn it, just you wait! When I put this stupid dress on, I'll eat you for sure!_

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

In the end, no one had eaten cake at lunch break, so it was split into many slices that we shared among ourselves since my actual birthday cake had already been made. The actual party, which was supposed to be the surprise party, was at Tsuna's house so saying that it was quite lively was an understatement.

The dress I had to wear didn't look that bad on me, but I still didn't like it: I didn't really feel comfortable while wearing it but that wasn't because it was too tight or too big or something of the sort, it was simply because I wasn't used to dresses.

I sighed. "Today felt like such a long day to me," I muttered, sitting on the couch. Tsuna was next to me on that couch, wearing the same tired yet fairly satisfied expression on his face I had.

"Yeah... A lot happened, but it was fun, right?" I nodded in response, as we both smiled when reminiscing this day. "Well... most of it was fun."

In between those good memories, we reminded ourselves of what had happened with Haru and I, our expressions blank. "I can also agree with you there: I had to wear this dress too," I said while pointing at it.

"Why is that a bad thing? Wasn't it one of your birthday presents?" Tsuna questioned, seemingly curious. _If you knew just who had sent this to me, then you'd get my sorrow..._

Besides, His Divine Presence could've given me clothes that I'd like better, but He decided to pick something I wouldn't want to wear; it just had to be on purpose. "I don't really like dresses..."

"Oh... Now that you mention it, you really don't seem like you'd like dresses so I can see why you'd be like that." _I might not like dresses but my clothes are girly, damn you!_ I thought, knowing that Tsuna said that because he had a not-so-girly mental image of me... or so I assumed; most people I knew would say that, so I deducted Tsuna would think the same way.

"Well, at least this party was fun." _A bit too lively, but fun nonetheless,_ I wanted to add but refrained from doing so, not wanting to complain. Most had already gone home and the party was basically over, so I was simply talking to Tsuna.

... The actual birthday cake tasted amazing too, but that was expected of someone like Yamamoto. _Seriously, why is he going for baseball and not cooking?_ "Everyone was so lively," he added what I had refrained from adding, looking somewhat troubled as he did so. "But I guess that's just how they always are, huh..."

"How can you even deal with them so well? You're always together like good friends, so there's no way they bother you that much." Tsuna always seemed to retort or protest to them in the same way I would in my own mind but deep down, he seemed to care for them, despite how weird they were. Due to how meek he looked, it was hard to tell that he was like that, but after getting to know him, it was clear in my mind that Tsuna was not 'No-Good'.

If anything, he seemed special, in a way: I couldn't quite place it, but his kindness and underlying determination made him strangely approachable and reliable, despite how weak he seemed; not only was he like that, but he was also very perceptive, even to the point where I'd feel like he could see through my thoughts sometimes.

Even so, it was undeniable that he was fairly cowardly despite such qualities, and that he seemed to want no conflict whatsoever: unfortunately, it seemed like all conflict in Namimori would somehow trace back to Tsuna, so I felt sorry for him in that regard. "Huh?" At first, he seemed confused with my question, but after seemingly giving it some thought, he relaxed.

"Well, they're all very weird and they're always noisy: they cause me all sorts of trouble," Tsuna said, his expression with a hint of nostalgia, as if he was reminiscing. "Ever since Reborn showed up, it's always been like that... I thought they were all too lively and strange at first, but now I think they're great friends, and I don't ever want to lose them. Even if my life is a mess now... I'm starting to realize that mess has been the most fun I've had."

**. . .**

"D-Did I say something weird?! I guess I did, I'm sorry," Tsuna apologized, thinking that I was uncomfortable or feeling awkward.

I had actually been deep in thought instead, greatly considering his every word. "That was... the most fun you've had?"

"Y-Yeah... I've never liked school, and I didn't have any friends until Reborn appeared, since I'm 'No-Good' and all..." The fact that he called himself No-Good with that much ease made me feel slightly sad for him, as it suggested he didn't see the qualities I saw in him. Despite that, he didn't seem so happy to think back on those days either, and that was understandable.

That prompted me to say something quickly, not wanting Tsuna to talk further about things he wasn't comfortable with, "I see. You know, I don't think you're No-Good at all: if anything, you're the person I can most relate to in this town. So, well, I-I'm glad that I'm friends with you," I nervously confessed, somehow finding those words embarrassing to say.

He seemed only slightly surprised, but that faded away rather quickly. "Thanks." Tsuna smiled, making me smile in return. "I think y-you're a good person too," he said, seemingly as embarrassed as me from saying such things, "you're one of the most normal friends I have s-so you're easier to talk to, since I don't have to be careful of what to say or how to act around you." He glanced to the sides as if to avoid my gaze, seeing as he was very nervous; it would almost seem like he was contradicting himself, but I was pretty sure that he was nervous due to being embarrassed and not because of my approachability. "But at the same time, it's worrying because you've gotten involved in all this mafia business when you could've been living a normal life... I'm sorry."

"Tsuna-san... It's not your fault, so don't apologize. You don't need to worry about me either: I'll manage! I was already involved in all sorts of strange things here before I met you, and since I'll probably be around for your next incident, I'll try what I can to help you out, okay? Well, you probably shouldn't expect much out of me, but..." Although I seemed fairly confident in most of my statements, I didn't think I could 'manage' at all.

I was smiling reassuringly, not wanting Tsuna to feel bad about things that weren't even his fault. After all, the one who truly got me involved in all that was... _Byakuran..._ "Y-You don't need to do that for me...! But thanks..." He said, looking needlessly apologetic.

... That expression had strangely disappeared afterwards and was immediately replaced with a perplexed one, as Tsuna seemed to have thought of or realized something that confused him, but I had no idea as to what it was. "Wait, what did you mean with-"

Before he could finish his question, my phone started ringing: this time, the ringtone was for phone calls, so I quickly pulled out my cellphone to answer it. The letters on the screen read, 'Mom' so I made a gesture for Tsuna to wait as I answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, what are you doing outside your house on your birthday? We can't find you like this, you know~?" I was immediately surprised by the voice I knew all too well on the phone that didn't belong to my mother, one that I would only occasionally listen to since I had moved to Namimori. "Happy Birthday!"

I smiled. "Sa-chan? What are you doing with my mother's phone?" I asked, yet I didn't really care much for the answer.

"It was so we could surprise you~." She chuckled. "I know you don't like surprises, but you're so adorable when you're surprised, like, 'huh, what? What's going on?' You know? We just can't help it!"

I could hear other familiar voices shouting in agreement, as if to make sure I would hear them through the phone. I could identify said voices as Maeko and Nana, two of my old friends: the one on the phone was Satomi, as cheeky as always. "Anyway, come on over, we're waiting for you! Your mother's like, crying from worrying about you right now and everythin- Wah, I mean, it's nothing, ma'am, forgive me!"

_That idiot..._ Despite my thoughts, I still had a smile on my face. "Alright, alright, I get it: I'm close by anyway so I won't take that long."

"Really? That's cool, then don't make us wait too long!" _A little bit of politeness wouldn't hurt..._ I thought, but even if her words were somewhat rude, she never really meant for them to be like that, and her actions aren't particularly rude either: that's just how she is.

I nodded, despite the fact that Satomi would've been unable to see that. "Okay, see you later," I said as I hung up the phone and looked at Tsuna. "I'm sorry, but it looks like I'll have to go now."

"Oh, it's okay! I'll see you tomorrow." I stood up from the couch as he said that, waving at him.

**. . .**

I hadn't stepped away yet, and stared at Tsuna for a while. "Is something wrong?" He asked, seemingly confused.

"Oh, not really. But, um, would you mind if I just called you 'Tsuna' from now on? It just sounds a bit less awkward so..." I asked, feeling a bit awkward myself for having done so.

I did have my reasons for having asked that: I didn't feel particularly close to Tsuna when everyone else didn't refer to him with an honorific, so I decided to take it out as well. "Sure," Tsuna said albeit still a bit confused, most likely because it was an unexpected question.

"Thanks, Tsuna," I decided to try it out, and it didn't sound too bad. "Anyway, see you tomorrow." This time, I finally walked away, thinking about my old friends who happened to be at my house.

_They better not be troubling mom too much..._ My mother always had a hard time with Satomi due to her cheeky nature, so I felt bad whenever there were situations where she'd have to talk to her. Kana was older and slightly more responsible, so she could've been stopping her... but she was also lazy and only committed to things that would interest her, so it wouldn't last long.

Maeko was probably just sitting on the couch and looking through her phone, not having any motivation to be involved in such things: in a sense, that would make me less worried about her, since she wouldn't do anything rash. Unfortunately, Satomi's influence could make her do reckless things, so Satomi was really the one to worry about.

As I got out of Tsuna's house, my thoughts about my old friends immediately shifted to thoughts about this day, and about the people I had met in Namimori. Things used to be lively with my old friends, but in here it was taken to a whole new level; I couldn't really keep up with them. Even so, I was starting to get somewhat used to it, so some of the strange things about them had become routine to me.

_I hope nothing too weird happens tomorrow; I think I've had enough of that from today..._ I sighed, knowing that said hope would be crushed the following day. Since it was expected, I wasn't particularly sad at that.

... If anything, the smile I had on my face at that moment was the exact same one I had when I was thinking about my old friends.

_Ah, 14 at last... I bet this year'll keep being a hectic one, and that's already an understatement._

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

Yes, I did it! I finished this on time! I'm so proud of myself, _I made it!_ You can guess that this chapter's about the fact that this fic is already _one year old!_ Woohoo, hopefully it lasts another year! I mean, I wrote 51 Chapters in one year, so I can only hope I'll write the same amount in this one... if this fic will ever need that many chapters but really, if you're already here, then you can safely assume that this will need more than 51 chapters.

Anyway, I planned on making another scene which would be about Observer-chan and her relationship with her old friends, but I didn't find it too necessary: I mean, I only truly need to develop her old friends to develop her past, so writing a whole scene for them just seemed like a waste of time. Besides, you did get to see Observer-chan's father: a quirky character, isn't he? But he's not that weird, he just likes weapons; he especially likes katanas, but any other weapon that's not a gun is fine.

You also got to see Observer-chan in Dying Will Mode, and she seemed pretty scary there: from what I can gather, Dying Will Mode seems to reduce the user to a single mindset, which is their Dying Will. Those are the user's dying regrets, which would be their dominant thoughts before death. Despite that, the Dying Will Mode is different for each person: this was proved by Kyoko, who was shot with the Dying Will Bullet in the manga and didn't go all berserk like Tsuna does (cannonically); instead, she was still very calm and collected, yet with all the buffs the Dying Will Mode provides.

With that in mind, Observer-chan in Dying Will Mode is blunt and rude, which made it come off as cruel and cold in this chapter: that was simply because she didn't like the delinquents, so she was expressing that clearly; that's how her Dying Will Mode works. This is supposed to contrast with her actual personality, which isn't very outspoken in terms of opinions, especially negative ones. Hopefully I did a good job? ^^'

I also wanted Tsuna and Observer-chan to actually sit down and talk so as to get to know each other better, which is what I did: it didn't go as well as I thought it would but at least they did some things off their chests, no? I don't know about you, but I'd like to have Observer-chan actually sit down and talk to the characters, you know, having a heart-to-heart with them and all that: I want to have her be closer to everyone, and I think doing this will make that happen.

Anyway, these notes became pretty long so I'll stop here. I think I'm going to write an omake chapter but I'll upload it later for once since I need to upload _this_ chapter immediately. Look forward to it! ^^


	57. Chapter 52

**First Words:**

* * *

**L's Cappuccino - I know, right? That chapter was like, 11 thousand words and a half so it was really long but since it was a special occasion, I hope I'm forgiven for that length ;_; Anyway, the ring Observer-chan got from Byakuran is a Mare ring but at the same time, not a Mare ring: if you think back (ahead?) to the Future Arc, you might guess what I'm talking about. And damn it, I guess that one line where she called them scum made you think that but it was totally coincidental, I had no intentions of having them be similar! My shitty vocabulary is the one to blame for this ^^' But somehow, that gives me some ideas... Good God, you're making me think of drawing parallels between Xanxus and Observer-chan, why...?**

**collegegirl - Thank you so much! I'm glad this story made you laugh since that's what I'm aiming for ^^ But the fact that you apparently laughed a lot is pretty awesome for me since I'm not confident about my sense of humor (or rather, not confident that many people share it). And you said Observer-chan's personality was awesome ;_;... Ah, so moved to tears by that since I like Observer-chan a lot! Anyway, I seem to get really good feedback about the Fun Facts (or was it just two people that said it previously?) which makes me really glad since I sometimes think they're either useless or bad: sometimes I get ideas for them really fast while other times, I literally take hours to fill them out so I think only this story will have them, just to keep to that tradition. Anyway, thank you again!**

This story got 1 favorite while I was busy with a trillion things! Yay! This chapter was the omake I was talking about in my previous Author's Notes, except that now, it's no longer an omake since it got too big. This chapter is kind of an epilogue or continuation to Chapter 51 which kind of makes me sad since I should've uploaded this way earlier for that kind of effect. Whatever the case, the next chapter will surely start with something new! I actually enjoyed writing this chapter but admittedly, I get kind of nervous thinking whether you'll find it just as enjoyable or not: hopefully you will? Please? ;_;

**Fun Facts:**

**\- At first, I actually planned on making Observer-chan have a diary, at least later on since it would be convenient then (lol plot convenience). But as I thought about it, ironically, I found it much better to portray Observer-chan as the type of girl that doesn't read or write a lot; she's more of an outdoors person.**

**\- By the time the chapter was ending, though she didn't know of it, Observer-chan was already late for school: everyone else knew of this, but they decided to wait anyway. Kind of admirable, right? Even so, Observer-chan got really surprised when she found out she was actually late...**

Anyway, enjoy! ^^

* * *

C**hapter 52: The end of a long day and the abrupt start of a new one**

* * *

I sighed. _Finally, I'm here..._ From going back home, to catching up with my friends and having them sincerely thank me from the bottom of their hearts and calling me the 'best, most divine friend that has ever existed' from having only given them autographed merchandise, to also opening all my presents and overall spending some time with my parents, I had finally gotten the chance to go to my room. It was past midnight, and I was fairly sleepy: just looking at my bed made my eyelids flutter.

I dumped some of my presents next to my desk and since it was improper to do the same for the rest of them, I put them _on_ the desk instead. _I'll take care of that later..._ After all, a messy room was also somewhat improper. The only object left, resting in the open palm of my right hand, was the mysterious yet flashy ring given to me by Byakuran. I gazed at it intently as it lay there, thinking of where to put an accessory I'd never use.

Although it was quite flashy in design, the purple stone, which anyone would have thought as the central piece made to draw attention, had a lifeless glimmer to it that made it fade in relation to the bigger, silver wings around it. The stone in itself was fairly big for an adornment on a ring, so I could not help but think that wasn't its intent. _What the hell's this ring for anyway?_ I narrowed my eyes in frustration as I stared at it further.

_Well, if it's Byakuran, it's either for my survival or for something terrible to happen to me while I stay unharmed... and the latter is more likely._ I decided to safely store it in one of my desk's drawers, just in case it happened to be as important as Byakuran had told me it would._ Not that I'd ever use this thing,_ I added in my mind hesitantly, hoping that that day would not come.

Although that would supposedly be the end of the things I'd have to do before going to bed, there was one more thing I had recently engraved into my routine. I turned on my laptop and waited for it to load with a tired expression. _Now that I think about it, I did tell Shouichi about my birthday so he'd know, right? But then again, he might've been too busy to read my message in time..._ I accessed the internet as soon as the laptop allowed for it and checked my emails.

_Nothing, huh..._ I thought in disappointment. _Well, he's probably busy so it can't be helped, I guess..._ Regardless, I decided to send him a message:

"Hey, remember what I told you last week? Yeah, today's my birthday. Well, technically, it was yesterday since it's already midnight but whatever... Anyway, it was probably one of the longest days of my life: everyone wanted to throw a surprise party for me but that didn't work since I found it out so easily. I never liked surprise parties so I guess that was good? But I did get surprised in more ways than one so I can't really say that was a success... It kind of felt as if I'd had two birthday parties in one day: one at the Reception Room in my school, and another one at a friend's (do you remember Tsuna? I think I mentioned him somewhere...) house, which is kind of weird, now that I think about it.

I also had to wear a dress, since something happened to my uniform... I don't think I want to remember that. I got to see my friends from the city I used to live in: you know, the ones that I gave the autographs to. They were really thankful for that, so I think I should thank you again. All that went by and now, I guess it's really late. I bet you must be busy too, so good work there."

I pressed 'send' as I noticed that it was 1 am. _Damn, I took that long?_ I had even omitted the parts that I definitely couldn't tell him like when Torikabuto came to give me Byakuran's presents and when I got shot by the Dying Will Bullet, but it seemed like I was still able to take so much time writing that email. _Whatever, I'll just go to bed..._

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

On the next day, as I finished getting ready for school and was going downstairs, I heard some strange noises. They seemed to come from the entrance which was slowly coming into view.

My eyes widened at the sight before me. _What the...?!_

The front door was opened and passing through it were carts, like those you'd see in a hotel, filled with very appetizing food. _Was that turkey just now? I never tried turkey before!_

_Wait, that's not what I should be thinking right now, what the hell's going on here?!_ I hurried over to the dining room, bowing slightly to the men carrying the carts as I passed by them since their presence seemed to somehow exude respect, despite the fact that said presence only came from their uniforms and collected appearance.

When I reached the dining room, I saw my mother and father, and they were smiling nervously. "Hey, what's going on?!" I asked, glancing at the man that simply left the cart near the table and walked up to my father, as the others seemingly with the man were leaving.

"... That would be the last of them. Well then, we shall now take our leave, but before that..." The man turned to me, and I in turn glanced to my side, as if trying to find someone else he could've shifted his attention to. _Seriously, what's happening?_

My parents confusedly looked towards the man that was walking towards me, seemingly unsure of what he was planning to do. He looked over at my mother and asked, "this is your daughter, correct?"

My mother warily answered, "yes, she is... What would you want with her?" The man simply turned to me again and took a piece of paper from a pocket in his coat.

"Then this is for you." He gave that piece of paper to me while I was still processing the situation, making me barely aware that I even took such a thing and that it was indeed in my hand. "Shouichi Irie-sama sends his best regards, and a happy belated birthday." He bowed to me and, as he left the dining room, turned to my parents again. "I apologize for the sudden intrusion; if you would excuse me..."

That was when he truly left, making us stand there as we heard the sound of the door closing, the carts still at our house: some of the food from them seemed to have been put on the table, but there was no way that we'd eat that for breakfast.

**. . .**

**. . .**

_Shouichi... Irie-sama? Wait, what?_ "That was... a rather strange visit," my father commented, as slow at processing what was going on as me. "Would all this fit in the fridge...?"

"That's not the problem right now," my mother immediately cut my father's train of thought, staring at me as if already knowing that I had something to do with it. "It looks like this was actually for you, so would you mind giving your parents, _who should always be aware of their daughter's activities,_ an explanation?" _Oh no, she's pissed..._

I saw the hand that was holding the piece of paper shaking as I nervously responded, "well, that's what _I'd_ like to know; I just got down here and found this out too!" _Well, if he mentioned Shouichi, then would this be...?_ I glanced at the piece of paper again, assuming it came from him too.

The man also congratulated me, which made me able to deduce most of the situation. _Is this... a birthday present?_ "Really now? That man looked like he was congratulating you on behalf of someone, and _somehow,_ I happen not to know who that is; I think you at least know that part. Would you mind explaining that?" My mother said, her eyes fixated on me and the piece of paper seemingly addressed to me. _Wow mom, you don't know Shouichi Irie..._

But then again, she was of an older generation, and I did have to ask for his name directly when I met him so I was no different. "Ah, well..." I paused, nervously formulating an explanation in my mind. "Remember that day I went out for a walk and turned up really late? I kind of met a music idol on the way, and I ended up helping him out with something, so... we kind of started exchanging emails." _I'm doomed. I'm so doomed. I think Mukuro wasn't as scary as this._

"... You could at least tell the truth to your mother, no?" My mother sighed, looking troubled. _This wasn't what I expected._

I was expecting my mother to be surprised, but she instead thought I was making it up: as I thought about it, that was more plausible than such a thing actually being true. "No, wait, I'm actually telling the truth here! Really!" I exclaimed, "look him up on the internet or something because I'm serious! Um... Oh yeah, remember Sa-chan calling me the best person ever for somehow being able to give her his autograph?! That was because of him!"

"Well, I doubt any normal person would have done something like _this,"_ my father remarked, looking slightly concerned. That remark calmed me down somewhat, seeing as at least my father didn't seem as doubtful. He looked at his watch, and he immediately tensed. "Ah, I'll be late for work if I don't go now! I'll see you later!" He rushed out of the dining room, seemingly alarmed. I would've checked the time myself, but I didn't find it appropriate when being confronted by my mother.

My mother and I said goodbye before staring at each other again, making me slightly nervous again. "So, let me get this straight, you befriended some sort of celebrity that you happened to find while taking a walk? And said celebrity decided to do _this_ as your birthday present?" My mother sighed. "Rich people these days... Anyway, that note is from him, right? What's written in there?"

"Um, well..." I opened the piece of paper that had been folded and started reading:

"I already wrote you an email but I thought it would be better if you were told about this right away. First off, I'd like to apologize again for having missed your birthday. Even if I was somewhat busy, I had already been warned beforehand so I shouldn't have forgotten about it, especially since you've been so patient with my responses. Anyway, I did this because the first thing you gave me was a boxed lunch, so I decided to return the favor. I don't know if this matches how good that boxed lunch was, but I'm at least sure this is high quality food. I didn't really know much about what you liked, so I hope this was okay..."

_This is... probably not the best thing to be reading out to your mother..._ "A-Anyway, I'll be late for school if I don't go now!" I said while nervously stepping back, having not even eaten breakfast.

"Hold it right there." I flinched, hoping that nothing troublesome would happen. My mother sighed. "You know, making friends is okay but you really should talk to me about them, especially if they're this... unique. What if you were being tricked? If you've been sending emails to each other then you should have, without question, talked to me about it; this isn't because I don't trust you, it's because I have to see if I can trust _him,_ or whoever you'll meet that seems suspicious. Alright?"

I lowered my head as I heard my mother's serious words, and slowly nodded. "Alright, I'm sorry... You're right." _Well, it was hard not to think he was the real deal when he was so bad at convincing me otherwise..._ Even so, I could understand where my mother was coming from, as she did not get an explanation of how I had met him. I decided that I'd tell that to my mother when I got home from school, since that would at least let her know that nothing dangerous had happened or was happening.

_I wonder if I'll be able to tell her about Byakuran someday..._ The thought of hiding things in such a way from my mother saddened me, so I decided to dismiss that. "Now that that's been _somewhat_ taken care of, you should go get your lunch before you dart off to school, no? You were forgetting about it."

"That's right!"_ Damn, that was close, I was almost going to starve in school!_

**. . .**

_But then again, I'd probably just be given Yamamoto's second lunch box again and get that crisis averted..._

* * *

. . .

* * *

As I left the house, I breathed a sigh of relief. _At least it looks like I'm not in trouble..._

"There she is!" Before I could think of anything else, I heard Ryohei's loud voice, which made me notice everyone's presence: Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Kyoko, Haru, Ryohei, and Reborn on top of the fence seemed to be outside of my home.

I walked a few steps towards them, unsure of the situation. _Were they waiting for me? That's weird, they don't usually do that... Is it something else?_ "What's wrong?" I asked.

"We were waiting for you!" Haru happily exclaimed, her answer too vague to really help me. Why were they waiting for me? They hadn't done that before, so I found myself confused.

"Hmph, you should be thankful that we're doing this, woman! If this weren't the Tenth's suggestion, we would've been out of here!" That probably only applied to Gokudera, but he said it as if everyone had the same mindset.

_But wait, if it's 'the Tenth's' suggestion..._ "Believe it or not, No-Good-Tsuna here said that everyone should wait for each other before going to school because you've been going alone lately," Reborn said, purposely revealing Tsuna's motives to embarrass him.

"Re-Reborn! You didn't have to say that!" It worked, since he was somewhat embarrassed. _Well, that's really nice..._ I smiled, but that apparently only did worse for Tsuna. _Sorry, I guess?_

I started walking towards them, not wanting to make them wait any longer. "Anyway, let's go?" Kyoko suggested and just by hearing Kyoko's voice, Tsuna's embarrassment about what had just happened disappeared as he shifted his attention to her. _Love is truly something..._ "You took a long time to leave though; we saw all sorts of food being carried over too: did that have something to do with it?"

I froze. "Uh... That's a long story..."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

This was originally an omake, but it's so big that I can't consider it one. Besides, this chapter is basically an 'epilogue' to Chapter 51, and I remember that I made my earlier chapters strangely continuous story-wise... Whatever the case, I at first was planning on writing a chapter about Fuuta or I-pin, but then I thought it would be pretty bad if I didn't make Shouichi do anything since canonically, they've been exchanging emails for a few weeks (two or three): this is how this chapter originated. I planned on doing something really short, but it didn't quite work, and it got a bit more focused on Observer-chan's parents than I had planned.

Speaking of them, I find that Observer-chan has many similarities to them in personality, and some of them are actually coincidental: she wasn't supposed to resemble her father, but I can see some instances where she does, so that was a pleasant surprise. I liked writing Observer-chan's parents, but I feel like none of you would ever find them interesting so I always feel bad when I focus on them: I mean, you're here for the KHR characters, not some random mother and father of an OC.

Aaah, so much fear of making Shouichi OOC, it's killing me! I have certain guidelines for Enma (an important manga character): he seems like the lovechild of Tsuna and Shouichi, since both his personality and appearance are a mix of both of them. He has the clumsier, sensitive, easily bullied and friend-protecting side of Tsuna and the calmer, more pessimistic side of Shouichi. When I think of Shouichi, I immediately think of my guidelines of Enma, since they help me in this regard. So basically, writing Shouichi is a battle against making him too nice and having him be too much like Enma (even though Enma appears much later than Shouichi).

Anyway, I missed Observer-chan: I hadn't been writing in a long time since I've been so busy lately, so going back to writing as Observer-chan made me really happy; the words just flew into the computer. So, hopefully this was enjoyable and look forward to the next chapter?


	58. Chapter 53

**First Words:**

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**Guest - Thank you ^^! I'm glad you found it entertaining!**

**collegegirl - You're welcome (though it's quite strange to be thanked for writing ^^')! It's a pleasant surprise to see a guest again, I thought it would be hard for you to see any next updates. Anyway, I didn't want leave out Shouichi, who will be one of the less recurring characters since he's always so busy, seeing as I had just introduced him and it would be unlikely that much would be heard from him again; besides, I like Shouichi and he was literally what inspired me to start writing this story, so it would've been unfair if he didn't get any attention. I also found the scene with Observer-chan's parents eye-opening, but most likely for different reasons: it made me flesh out their personalities better, especially Observer-chan's father. About the diary, I only thought of it for the sake of the Future Arc, since I'd be using it for revelations aka plot convenience. But really, as I thought of it, I simply could not imagine Observer-chan dedicating her time to write a diary: I dunno, I just think she's too focused on other things in life to even think of writing anything; she's the kind of person that would rather run around in an open field (now I'm imagining her with a dog lol) than reading a book. Besides, considering Future Observer-chan's situation, I don't think that would even be feasible... But I'm not spoiling why :D**

Anyway, this chapter is totally a shorter one, don't be fooled! This chapter, and others ahead of this one are for introducing characters properly: after all, Observer-chan has yet to meet a few characters like Dino, I-pin and... Giannini... I don't think I'll ever be motived or able to find inspiration to write a chapter about Giannini, especially when I totally forgot about him. Whatever the case, these next few chapters will be introducing characters because I promised myself I would only get to the Varia Arc when all the necessary characters were introduced (with the exception of Coronello; he can be introduced in the Arc) and after I'd write a certain chapter, which I won't be spoiling. This means that the Varia Arc is close! Well, if you consider that we have like, 6-9 chapters left, it might not be that close but whatever, it's close enough!

**Fun Facts:**

**\- As you might've noticed before, Observer-chan thinks Fuuta is Tsuna's little brother, seeing as he lives with Tsuna and his appearance isn't too different from him. As far as I can see, I don't think she'll ever realize that they're not actually related.**

**\- Although you unfortunately never get to know in the chapter, Observer-chan's most notable rankings are: 7th place in the people who can't say no to favors ranking, 2nd place in the people most likely to get involved in dangerous situations ranking, 1st place in the people most likely to miraculously avoid death, 1st place for the most sarcastic middle school girls in Namimori, and 56th place in the people most likely to act on impulse in Namimori ranking. Note that some of these rankings are actually Byakuran's fault...**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 53: The boy who was somehow weirder without the trident head**

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Today marked the third time I came over to Tsuna's house. "Is it really okay for us to just randomly come over?" I asked Kyoko while already inside said house, hearing Tsuna's mother shout to Tsuna that we were there.

Although I'd usually head straight home from school, there would at least be one or two of us (usually Gokudera and Yamamoto) that would head off to Tsuna's house, and Tsuna wouldn't point it out at all. There was even one time where I called Haru and Kyoko to hang out and they told me they were at Tsuna's! At that time, I didn't go, thinking it would be strange of me to do so, but maybe Tsuna didn't mind.

... Or maybe he did but got used to it, like seemingly most strange things he's had to experience. "I think so; at least Tsuna is usually really happy when I come over," Kyoko answered, looking somewhat thoughtful. _I feel bad for Tsuna..._ Despite Kyoko's extraordinary powers that she would sometimes cleverly use, there were times where she was amazingly airheaded: was it a facade?

Despite the odds, I would always be hesitant to say yes: many of her actions involving her illusions had good intentions behind them, as much as they would irritate me since I didn't like getting tricked. But then again, how had Kyoko known of our location when we were in Kokuyo? Was it Haru? And even if it was, how did she know how to save the fangirls from being possessed? Besides, despite having been seemingly unaware of how dangerous the situation was, she had gotten away unharmed by tricking Mukuro into thinking he had wounded her, which could suggest she _did_ know of how dangerous he was...

Overall, I could neither agree nor deny that Kyoko had a few secrets of her own but somehow, I couldn't think she was a bad person: she did help me many times, after all. "Well, if you say so." I decided to drop the subject of dropping by uninvited and decided to go upstairs, where Tsuna was.

... Or that _was_ what I had planned on doing until, from the corner of my eye, I detected what seemed to be an object floating in the air. Not only that, but it also looked like the couch, and basically every object I could see from afar was floating at least slightly, as if not affected by gravity. "Kyoko-chan...?"

"Hmm?" Kyoko answered, having not noticed the state of the living room yet.

I pointed to it. "What's going on in there...?" _Is it an illusion or something? But then again, I don't think Kyoko would cast illusions on me for no good reason..._

Kyoko looked toward the living room, and said, "I'm not sure, but I think it's Fuuta-kun; at least that's what happened when he wanted to know my rankings: I'm apparently on first place in the most mysterious middle school girl ranking!" _I don't think that's something to be proud of... But I can definitely see that fit her._

"Wait, 'Fuuta-kun'?" I asked, finding that the name she had uttered rang far too many bells in my mind to ignore. In fact, the first thing that sprung forth from my memories was a trident head, one a certain kid I encountered had once involuntarily used against me. Ugh... _I feel bad for him, but I can't help the traumatic memories..._

_... And I can bet he has traumatic memories with me too since I slapped him that time: I still feel awkward for having done that to someone related to Tsuna..._ As my mind sidetracked into the past while disregarding the bizarre sight, Kyoko responded, "oh, you've never met him, did you? His name is Fuuta, and he lives here with Tsuna-kun. He can rank anything! It's always correct too!" Her cheerful explanation made my concentration on my thoughts break, focusing on what was truly important again. "I wonder how he can do that..."

_Rank? What does that have to do with everything floating? Is that how he ranks things? Why and how can he rank everything accurately anyway?_ "Huh..." I decided to see for myself and head to the living room, Kyoko following me with a smile.

When I arrived, I indeed saw the kid from the incident in Kokuyo, his unfocused eyes looking up as if beyond the ceiling while he mumbled something I was not able to hear. "Um... Whoa!" I lost my balance as I felt like I was being pulled off the ground, seemingly to end up in the same predicament as the objects around me.

Strangely, Kyoko was unaffected. "Are you alright? I'm actually still looking from afar so I'm okay, but you should be careful," Kyoko said, looking somewhat worried. _Oh, it's an illusion... right._ From the many times she had done this to me, I was no longer surprised.

"W-Well, I don't think I can even try to be careful when I've never floated before but al- **Aaah!**" As fast as I had started to rise from the ground, I was dropped on it with moderate force. "Ouch, geez..." Since I hadn't been that far from the floor, it didn't injure me or something of the sort, but it still hurt a lot.

I looked toward Fuuta, whose mumbling had stopped, as he seemed to regain awareness of his surroundings. His expression was calm for the slight mess he made, as he grabbed a large book that was beside him, opened it, and started writing something down with a pencil. _Isn't that book almost half his height? It looks like a huge pain to carry, at least..._

When it finally seemed like was done writing, he closed the book and started looking around for once, which made him spot us. "Ah...!" His eyes widened when he saw me, about to stand up from the hard floor I had fallen to. He seemed unsure of what to do, staring at me in surprise while I staggered a bit from the pain of the fall, having finally gotten up to look at him properly. "You are..."

He took a few steps back, seemingly nervous. "I guess you still remember me, huh?" I introduced myself in a rather friendly manner so as to not scare him off, though I wasn't sure if that would work. _I don't look scary, at least, so I shouldn't have failed that badly..._ "I know your name from Tsuna: you're Fuuta, right? It's nice to meet you."

"Y-Yeah... You were in Kokuyo, and..." He looked down at the floor as he seemingly remembered his time there, which had probably been an awful experience to him too. "I'm really sorry!" To my surprise, those were his words: I had expected him to be more scared of me than anything, so I thought he'd run away or something. Instead, he apologized for some reason. "I got caught, and troubled everyone; because of that, you had to..."

From his words, I could assume that the reason he apologized and was acting in such a way was that he felt guilty, since the reason I had slapped him in the face was due to his mind control. "Wait, you don't have to apologize: it's not your fault that you got kidnapped and controlled like that. If anything, I feel kind of bad for having slapped you..." I nervously said, still feeling awkward that I slapped his brother.

When glancing behind me, I noticed that Kyoko had mysteriously vanished. _When did she...?! Oh, whatever, I don't even care anymore..._ "Really?" Fuuta meekly said, looking straight at me. "You don't hate me?"

"What?" I uttered that immediate thought out loud, confused and surprised with what he had asked me. "No, of course not!" _I have to admit I feel kind of uncomfortable around you because you chased me down with a trident head but that doesn't mean I don't like you!_ I decided not to express that, seeing as it would not improve the situation. "None of it was really your fault, so why would I hate you?"

**. . .**

Fuuta stood silently for a while, seemingly taking in my words. He still seemed nervous after that, but it seemed like he wasn't as uncomfortable as before. "You really mean that..." He lightened up as he muttered those words, still staring at me as I smiled, hoping that would also factor in his change of mood. "You're actually a really nice lady, just like Tsuna-nii told me." Though he smiled, my own smile had vanished. _What do you mean, 'actually'?_

At least I knew Tsuna was saying good things about me, so I ignored that thought and said, "uh, thanks. Anyway, I was about to go upstairs until I saw everything in this room floating: was it really you?" Even though I got an explanation from Kyoko, I still wanted to confirm whether it was true or not: after all, it was pretty hard to believe that a kid would make everything float just so he could rank things or whatever.

_That doesn't even make any sense..._ "Yeah, that's how I get my rankings," Fuuta simply answered, as if it was nothing special to him. "But if I had to be specific, it's the ones above that tell me all the rankings: if I focus hard enough, I can leave this plane and talk to them. Speaking of that, I just asked them about the best TV channels to watch when you have nothing to do: the results are really surprising."

**. . .**

_The... 'ones above'? Is he serious? No matter how you look at it, there are no people 'above' th-..._ "Wait_,_ about those 'ones above' or whatever, does one of them have spiky white hair, wings and a permanent creepy smile?!" I asked, having immediately thought of His Divine Presence: after all, there could only be one bunch of 'people' out of this plane of existence!

"Who's that? I've never seen someone that weird." Fuuta's answer was quick, reinforcing the fact that he truly had no idea of who I was talking about. _Oh, then he _is_ just a bit too imaginative for his age._

I shook my head as if to deny my previous words. "Never mind..."

Fuuta said nothing for a while, having expected me to speak, but since I didn't he said, more to himself than me, "now that I mention it, I wonder if Yuyeft-chan is okay... they did say she was sick. I guess that's why she wasn't there just now when I visited..." _'V-Visited...'_

I took a step back. "Is something wrong?" Fuuta asked, again sounding like what he had talked about before, presumably about the 'ones above', was nothing special. _I mean, this kid doesn't seem that bad, but I don't think I can so easily believe his talk about rankings and ones above and... all that..._ I hoped that one day, that phase of his would disappear. "If you want, I can see your rankings too."

"N-no, it's alright, I'll pass! Maybe we can do that at a later time! After all, I was supposed to meet Tsuna today." That was a complete lie, especially since I had shown up uninvited. "Anyway, I'll be going now, okay? We can talk more later!" I offered in a friendly tone, not wanting to make him sad. He didn't seem like a bad kid, but it was still very strange that he could apparently have accurate rankings by talking with what I assumed to be aliens or something of the sort. As far as I was concerned, I'd only start believing in aliens the way I started believing in the existence of God: by being dragged to their domain and forced to participate in dangerous events for unknown reasons.

Despite my efforts, Fuuta seemed slightly disappointed that I passed on his offer. "Are you sure? It doesn't take that long, and I always get them right... I'm sure they'd like to meet you too."

... I almost shuddered. "S-sorry, but now's not the time. I'm already pretty late, you know." I could almost applaud myself for the brilliant lies I was spouting without much thought, seeing as I would usually fail at them. "So, the next time we see each other, we could p-play a game or something instead of that. Anyway, I'll see you later!"

With that I quickly hurried off the living room, hearing a, "see you later," from Fuuta as I went toward the stairs. It sounded a bit saddened, so I instinctively slowed down my pace. _Ah, damn it, now I feel like I did something wrong..._

_... Even then, I sure don't want to meet 'them', whatever they are..._ **"Ah, Gokudera-kun, no!"** As I slowly went up the stairs, I could hear Tsuna shouting that to Gokudera in panic.

"B-But Tenth...!"

"Gyahahaha! No one can stop me!"

I opened the door, only to be immediately greeted. "Hey there!" Surprisingly, Yamamoto was the first to note my presence with Kyoko greeting me afterwards, smiling at me. "Everyone's bringing out their toys, so you came at a great time!" He cheerily said, making me blankly stare at the room.

Oh yes, I definitely did not want to meet whatever strange alien friends Fuuta had for me. _After all, these people are already just as much of a handful..._

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

I have to admit: me and Fuuta aren't that well acquainted. I don't know him as well as the other characters, and his only noteworthy characteristic to me is that he ranks people, so it's hard to add anything at all to him, let alone make him in-character! At first, I wanted to add something to Fuuta related to his ranking abilities, but since I couldn't think of anything in particular, I made him be amazingly weird instead, with the ones above and all that: I figured that would hit Observer-chan harder in terms of weirdness so it was perfect. If only I was good at writing Fuuta...

Speaking of that, I was having trouble at writing everyone in this chapter in general: Kyoko and Yamamoto, who I usually don't have much trouble writing, made me quite nervous since I was afraid I was writing them wrong. Even Observer-chan felt a bit iffy to me...! But then again, that was mostly because I felt a lack of her thoughts, or at least louder thoughts in this chapter: I guess she's getting used to everything? Whatever, this chapter wasn't my best so I'm sorry to the people that really like Fuuta (I'm indifferent to him) since this chapter was to introduce him properly to Observer-chan. As far as it goes, I think Dino and I-pin are next, so look forward to that? Now that I think about it, I totally forgot Giannini's existence...!

Damn it, I seriously forgot about Giannini, this is bad! I mean, I don't feel like doing anything with him now since, come on, has he ever made anyone laugh? But I don't have much of choice since he matters more in the Future Arc and whatnot. Hmmm... I'll have to think hard about this. Anyway, I miss Hibari. I know, that's kind of stupid, but he's just so hilarious that I want to write something with him!

Basically, my plans are to introduce the remaining characters, then write three or four chapters: two of them will definitely be about Gokudera and Hibari respectively, while the third will be about someone else I might feel like writing, and the last one will be a special one which I won't spoil. Then I'll make a chapter filling the gap between the last chapter and the Varia Arc, which is when things will actually start! Basically, I'll have like, 6-8 chapters out before the actual Varia Arc. Look... forward to them?

This is got way too long...


	59. Chapter 54

**First Words:**

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**Guest - Well, I did know that Giannini was all about screwing up fixing things but I just didn't find that joke funny in KHR... so I guess that made me completely forget about his existence; I'll most likely write a chapter for him since I wouldn't want to put aside characters just because I don't care about them. Well, the Mare Ring (which I've mentioned is technically not an actual Mare Ring) isn't as important as it seems, really: it will have a use in the Varia Arc for specific reasons, but it's not because Observer-chan will ever learn how to use it, or that she'll even use it in general. After all, Tsuna and the others only learn how to use rings in the Future Arc, and Byakuran won't bother telling her things that will make her have any power, especially in that Arc. Whatever the case, it's not really too fast to give it to her since it will have a use in the Varia Arc and it's not that important since beyond that use, not much will be done with it (there will be things happening with it in the Future Arc, but that's obvious enough). I also found it pretty adorable when Fuuta wanted to rank her ^^ While Observer-chan does have a name, it will only be revealed later on, not because there's any plot twist to it, but for characterization purposes. Anyway, thank you for reviewing and hopefully you'll be able to see this response!**

**collegegirl - You're welcome! It's mostly because I think I'm the one who should be thanking the readers for, well... reading this, so it's not like it was wrong of you to thank me, I just thought it was a bit surprising ^^' Nooo, you're making me want to spoil the Future Arc~ But whatever the case, I also don't think she'd do that, simply because she wouldn't be able to do it and also because she wouldn't even think about cameras. Kyoko is also one of my favorite characters in this story, and I felt really bad for Fuuta when I was writing that chapter since he really was misunderstood (despite 'the ones above' part) ^^' Hibari is pretty hilarious, so let's hope I'll come up with some good idea for a chapter that involves him! Anyway, thank you again for reviewing, and hopefully you'll see this response again!**

**L's Cappucino - Welcome back! Haha, Fuuta did sound kind of Chuunibyou, huh? Even though he's 9... They're imaginary friends, I tell you! Or are they...? XD Like, that stuff with Kyoko just being a shut-in and eating cake sounds so hilarious that I just feel bad for not having thought of that, damn it, why do you have such great headcannons of my fanfiction?! Well, since there are no other Master Illusionist Middle School girls, I think Kyoko would be quite worthy of that ranking. But lol yes, Kyoko does exist... or does she? *cue creepy music***

I've answered** Moka-girl's** (who was quite helpful to me, thank you!) reviews through PM since I admittedly couldn't answer them here ^^' Despite having no favorites or followers to announce, this time I have an amazing amount of reviews, so I'm pretty happy... maybe a bit _too_ happy, since I wrote pretty long responses... forgive me? Anyway, due to really nice advice I got from a reviewer, I've decided that when I finish this Daily Life section, I'll merge many of the initial chapters together and make them longer! This should fix the slower pacing, at least a bit, and reduce my chapter count. I'm also planning on re-writing them and taking out typos, so look forward to that! Speaking of that, I've also officially given up on making my chapters short, since I'm too inspired to have them short; hopefully this won't bother anyone (since this one, for example, is 4,000 words).

Anyway, **the glossary for all the words you won't know are in the Author's Notes** instead of this section for your viewing convenience! Now to the Fun Facts:

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Reborn has already told Dino to just stop spouting random french words unnecessarily (as this had been a trait of his before Reborn had even started tutoring him) but since that wouldn't do anything, he stopped caring and assumed his love for French was simply too great.**

**\- Ryohei had gone home at the time but, having nothing to do, he decided to go to Tsuna's house instead: after all, that's the best place to have fun to the extreme, right? Kyoko didn't go because she was actually diligently doing her homework... or was she? Well, as far as anyone could tell, that's what she was doing.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 54: The Polyglot Mafia Boss and too many damned whips**

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I tiredly closed my English textbook, noticing that it was pretty late already. I had spent a large chunk of the evening studying for the English test tomorrow, like I would always do on the day before any test. I felt confident that I wouldn't do that badly, but that didn't mean I'd get amazing grades on it either._ Well, I guess we'll just have to see tomorrow..._

I slowly got up from my chair, grabbed the textbook, notebook and pencil case and headed over to my school bag, which was leaning on my closet, to put all of that inside. One of the closet's doors was slightly opened, and some of my clothing was visible while I put my things in the schoolbag.

... Not only that, but the whip I had gone through the effort of storing in a dark corner of the closet was also noticeable, making me frown. _It's still visible? Damn it, where else am I supposed to put this thing?_ That whip had been the one I got from Tsuna when I wanted to stop Hibari and Mukuro from dragging on the battle, which I had stored in my schoolbag on my way home. I could've just thrown it away seeing as I wasn't proficient with whips anyway, but since it had been somewhat useful in Kokuyo I figured there would be more uses for it in the future, especially considering His Divine Presence's existence.

_Not that I'll ever use this thing anyway..._ I quickly put my pencil case in the bag and focused on the whip, which jolted out of my closet as if wanting to be found out. I pushed it further into the depths of the closet, hoping that no light would shine upon that corner._ Now that I think about it, this whip was a present for Tsuna, but I can't really remember who it was from in the first place; as far as I can recall, it seemed foreign..._

_Meh, whatever, it's not like it really matters anyway._

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

Many days passed after that test, and only today were the scores revealed to us as the tests had been delivered. I felt satisfied, but not particularly proud of my score of 68, seeing as it wasn't that remarkable by my standards. At lunch time, I spoke to Tsuna and the others about their own grades in the English test, which they also had on the same day despite being from a different class, and I was, in some ways, expecting the scores they had gotten:

Tsuna, despite being a very perceptive person, had miserable grades, as miserable as Ryohei's Math skills; Yamamoto's grades were also bad, but he could somehow do better than Tsuna as his score would be around 40 (Tsuna's would barely even reach 30); Gokudera's score was, frustratingly since I didn't really want him to be superior to me in terms of grades, a damned 100, which is what most of his scores would be like so I wasn't even surprised; Kyoko's score was a very nice 81, and Hana's was the closest to mine, being 63.

All in all, everyone's scores were scattered from terrible to amazing, so I couldn't feel either superior or inferior to them at all, which I couldn't really complain about. _My score wasn't really bad anyway..._ Even so, I'd definitely aspire to have Kyoko's grades since they would usually be around 80. _Well, I guess that will only happen when I decide to study every day._

As lazy as I was, I knew that was never going to happen: even so, I did study hard on the days before tests so I at least had that going for me. School having ended, we were all going home on basically the same path: Hana was the only exception, since she has to take a different path altogether from ours. Since we were close to Tsuna's house, Kyoko and Ryohei weren't with us, leaving only Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto and I.

We were all going to Tsuna's house today, a habit which I had slowly started picking up on: everyone would do it at least once a week, and it seemed like I was also starting to do the same, albeit usually when Kyoko or Haru would go. This time was different, since the only other people going were the regulars, namely Gokudera and Yamamoto, who'd practically spend most of their time there.

Whatever the case, I was also staying over for a while to hang out, but when I saw the many suited men surrounding it in the middle of the street, I wasn't quite sure if I was sticking to that plan. _What are all these people doing? They're all gathered at Tsuna's house, too... And Tsuna happens to be the heir to a mafia family..._ I was too scared to actually stare at them, afraid they'd return my gaze or just point whatever guns they'd have on me all of a sudden.

Meanwhile, Tsuna blankly stared at them, making me assume that he knew what exactly they were and most likely, who they were working for as well. "Um, what are all these people doing by your house...?" I decided to ask this with a low voice so as to not be heard by them, hoping for a clear answer from Tsuna.

"H-huh? Oh, they're, uh..." _I guess I expected too much._ "Well, you already know about the whole mafia thing, so I guess I can tell you... They're Dino-san's men," Tsuna finally answered, not seeming too happy to do so.

_Dino?_ I processed that name for a while as I saw the men spotting Tsuna and organizing themselves in two lines, making a space for us to pass through. _Dino... I'm pretty sure I heard that foreign name before..._ Only when the men started bowing at Tsuna and welcoming him did I actually start focusing on how ridiculous the situation was. _Wait, I'm passing through these guys, this is bad!_

_... But then again, maybe I shouldn't think like that when Tsuna happens to be the heir to a strong mafia family. Besides, I still have Holy Protection, for better or worse._ When we entered the house, we found more suited men inside, which still didn't fail to unsettle me. "Oh, welcome back, Tsu-kun," Tsuna's mother said as she noticed us next to him. "The house is really packed with people today. Guess who just came to visit!"

"Dino-san, right?" Tsuna answered and smiled, surprising me. _Wait, wasn't this supposed to be bad? At least I'm pretty sure all these men with suits are bad news._

_... But then again,_ I reminded myself, _maybe I shouldn't be thinking like that when Tsuna is part of the mafia, even if Tsuna doesn't look like he'll ever step up to that kind of job._ That in itself made me feel relieved, since being the boss of a mafia family is not something most kind-hearted people would be up to doing. "Oh, so he's around?" Yamamoto asked, seemingly looking forward to meeting Dino, whoever he happened to be.

I remained suspicious of that person, finding that name to be startlingly familiar. "But who is he, exactly?" As Tsuna's mother smiled again and left the area, I found myself asking that question out of frustration from not being able to pinpoint where I had heard that name before.

"Ah, you never met him, did you? Well, he's-"

"He's a French-loving klutz, that's what he is." Before Tsuna was able to finish what he was going to say, Reborn's squeaky voice had stated that in a fairly casual manner, in the same way he calls Tsuna 'No-Good' all the time._ French? Why French?_ "He's the boss of the Cavallone family, and No-Good-Tsuna's senior apprentice too. Remember that whip you took from Tsuna? Dino was the one who gave it to him."

Suddenly, with Reborn's helpful explanation, everything clicked in my mind... expect the 'French-loving klutz' part, but whatever. "That's right...!" _So that's where I'd heard that name! But he's a mafia boss...?!_ As I thought of it, it would be pretty awkward if Dino found out that his present, meant for Tsuna, was actually hidden in the dark depths of my closet, especially due to his high position in the mafia. _But wouldn't they be enemies then? Or can mafia families be allied to each other? I don't know, but he still sounds kind of scary!_

"Why did she take something like that?" Gokudera questioned as if I wasn't there, focused only on Reborn. One thing I noticed after having spent some time with Gokudera (simply because he's always with Tsuna) was the fact that he also seemed to admire Reborn, which felt strange as he was rude to everyone else.

_Well, he _is_ a supposed professional assassin in the mafia... somehow._ "She got desperate," Reborn simply answered, his vagueness not helping my case with Gokudera.

"I did have good reasons for using that and you know it," I said, deciding to intervene so as to defend myself. "If I hadn't done that, Hibari-san and Mukuro would've been fighting the rest of the day."

_Ugh, I don't even want to remember that..._ "That still means you were desperate," Reborn pointed out._ Damn you! Why's he so good at countering whatever I say?!_

More than that, Reborn also happened to be good at countering whatever anyone would say, which would make him succeed at pissing everyone off. "So that's what it was about," Gokudera concluded. "If you intended on helping the Tenth, then fine." He still didn't seem so pleased, giving me quite the mean look, but those were the only words he said to me.

_Wow, I got off the hook better than I expected..._ Was he perhaps finally getting used to my presence? I doubted that, but it would've surely been better if that was the case. "Hmm, I don't know what you're talking about, but weren't we going to check up on Dino-san?" Yamamoto asked, having probably not even paid that much attention to our conversation about Dino and that whip.

"Y-Yeah, we were," Tsuna said, being the first one to actually head over to the dining room. Gokudera, Yamamoto and I followed suit at the exact same pace, which was pretty bizarre for me. As we did so, the men in suits would almost fade in the background, as they didn't bother us at all.

Reborn simply walked with his tiny feet over to us effortlessly, as expected of him. When we did reach the dining room, we found that there were a few suited men around in comparison to the rest of the house which seemed packed with them. While Tsuna's mother was in the kitchen washing dishes, there were two men in suits around one man, who was on the table as if it was normal for him to do so.

_W-whoa..._ That man, who seemed to be 20-something years old or maybe younger, had Hibari-levels of handsomeness which, combined with the strangely approachable presence he let out (despite the two men on both his sides) and friendly-looking smile, was admittedly hard to process for me.

Really, the only reason this never happened with Hibari was because he was too scary to have such a recognition in my brain. Despite wanting to keep my guard up, I ended up staring at him intently, unsure of what to do. "Yo, Tsuna, everyone. I was waiting for you," the man, Dino, greeted, his smile unwavering.

Despite the professional suits his men (presumably his subordinates) were wearing, Dino's clothing was fairly casual, and his blonde hair somewhat disheveled. "It's been a while since you last visited, Dino-san," Tsuna said, seemingly comfortable with talking to him.

_Just... wow, okay, this is not what I expected._ I had been expecting someone much older and a million times more serious than what he actually seemed to be, but I was completely wrong there; needless to say that that made it even harder for me to completely process his existence. "Yeah, and it looks like you met someone new while I was gone. Is she your _petite amie?_ I guess _mon junior_ grew up a bit from that incident with Mukuro Rokudo." He winked at me while smiling, which made me take a step back. _What was he even saying? How would Tsuna even know what a petee... ah, whatever, is?!_

_What language was that anyway?_ That question, which I had instinctively asked to myself, was promptly answered when I recalled Reborn's words: 'French-loving klutz', was it? With that in mind, it was more than natural for me to assume that the instances where he was speaking another language was him saying French words for no good reason. _Seriously, why French anyway? Isn't he Italian or something? And speaking of that, he's got pretty good Japanese for a foreign person... or are all important people from the mafia fluent in more than two languages?_ I found that hard to believe. "Uh, she's just my friend," Tsuna answered awkwardly, probably due to not knowing what Dino meant.

I decided not to intervene and only nodded, not wanting to stand out that much. "If you think No-Good-Tsuna could ever have something like that with his wimpy personality, then you still have a lot to learn." Suddenly, as he spoke, Reborn had appeared in front Dino.

"Uwah, Reborn!" Dino flinched, seemingly surprised with Reborn's appearance. "You should really stop doing that..." That was the only time so far that Dino wore a troubled expression, which was pretty comprehensible: Reborn has that effect on people. "_Mais,_ does that mean they didn't grow up at all from that day? I seriously doubt that, Reborn."

_Grow? Did we...? If he's talking about power-ups then I can see what he means but the only thing Tsuna did do in that aspect was getting the courage to beat Mukuro... because he saw Kyoko pretending to die._ I never did get to see what his reaction was to finding out that Kyoko was actually okay, but since he didn't speak of it the next time I saw him, I assumed he was informed of that by Reborn at some point. "I didn't deny that," Reborn simply said, turning to us. "Speaking of Kokuyo, remember that whip you got for Tsuna? It was completely useless for him, so she's the one who has it now."

"_Quoi?_" Reborn pointed at me so the once again surprised Dino could get an idea of what he was talking about, making my plans of not standing out get ruined: was it on purpose? _That sneaky baby..._ "She looks as impuissant as Tsuna: why would she want to have something like that?"

_Hey, I didn't want to keep that thing... even though I ended up doing that._ My contradictory thoughts unnerved me further, especially since Dino seemed to be staring at me, seemingly checking if he had missed the part where I was actually super special and strong when he first saw me. "Oh, I never knew you had a whip; that doesn't fit you at all," Yamamoto commented, chuckling afterwards. _He really didn't listen to that conversation before, huh..._

After all, I was pretty sure Reborn had already mentioned that I had a whip at that time, so it surely wasn't anything new. _Strange that the fact I have a whip doesn't faze him at all... But then again, he does have baseball bats that turn into swords._ "Hmmm... Is she really skilled?" Dino asked that to Reborn, unconvinced that I was totally strong after having finished sizing me up._ I'm here, you know..._

"Who knows? She did thwart Mukuro's plans just fine with that whip; the only way to really know is to test her," Reborn said, shrugging as he 'innocently' smiled. _'Test'...?_

_... It can't be what I think it is, no way. I didn't even use the whip correctly when I tried to stop Mukuro and Hibari!_ I glanced at the door that would lead me out of the dining room, suddenly wishing to go through it as fast as I could. "Hmph, there's nothing to test with her: the only thing she's actually decent at doing is running away!" Gokudera's statement, which I would normally be offended by, actually got me feeling some hope that I'd escape the imminent danger of being 'tested': after all, he was practically defending me, even if he didn't know that.

"I-I don't think that's all she can do, but I also think you shouldn't do that, Dino-san!" Tsuna tried to support Gokudera's point without offending me, looking worried and nervous._ Why did Reborn come up with that idea anyway?!_ No matter what angle I'd think that from, I found no reason for him to make Dino test me.

It was a known fact that Reborn knew (because he can notice) that I didn't know how to use a whip at all, and that I only used it because it was an emergency that I desperately wanted to take care of. It was also certain that Reborn knew that I had no special strength whatsoever: if I had such a thing, I wouldn't have needed Holy Protection in the first place, and he did understand the idea that they were bodyguards. So, what did he hope to accomplish by suggesting such a thing?

... Could it be that he thought I was hiding something that could only be witnessed during a battle? _Wait, is he trying to summon my Holy Protection or something?!_ It dawned on me that while Holy Protection would only come when I'd be at a risk of dying, Reborn didn't really know that: he probably knew that it would come in the same way Zakuro suddenly appeared when I was about to get stabbed, but he could've also come to the conclusion that Holy Protection would appear when I'd be in danger instead of when I'd be close to dying.

Even then, all of that was speculation, so there could be something even deeper that he wanted to figure out: as mysterious as that baby was, I had no idea as to what that would be. "Shut up, No-Good-Tsuna; that's none of your business," Reborn said, immediately crushing all my hopes. He stepped closer to me, and threw something. "Here, you'll need this."

What I had gotten was a whip, a whip in better condition than the one hidden in my closet. Since I immediately knew what it was for, my face paled. _No, I seriously can't use this thing!_ "Are you sure about this, Reborn? Even Tsuna is denying that," Dino said: from the way he mentioned Tsuna, one could assume that his words had some weight on Dino.

"I didn't say she was strong. If anything, she needs training if she's going to be involved with the mafia; that's where you come in," Reborn explained. _I'm not going to be involved with the mafia!_ I frowned but as I thought about it, it was somewhat noticeable that I already was.

Besides, it was pretty obvious that whatever incident thrown my way by His Divine Presence involved the mafia, so it was actually hard to counter Reborn's statement. Dino finally smiled, smirked even, staring straight at me as he got up from the chair he had been sitting on this whole time. "Oh, I see, _je comprends..._ If that's what you were going for, then I'll do it. We wouldn't want her to needlessly lose her life, and if she has an interest in this kind of weapon, then I'd be happy to teach her about it."

_But I have Holy Protection, I don't need to know how to use whips!_ Although now I was completely unsure whether Reborn had any ulterior motives, I decided to focus on more important things like making sure the 'training' wouldn't happen. As I saw Tsuna's mother leaving the kitchen and getting out of the dining room, I exclaimed, "no, no, w-wait! I don't really need to be taught something like that so we don't have to do this!"

"You don't have to be that scared; I'll go easy on you." Those words did not comfort me in the slightest, especially when he was taking out his own, deadly-looking whip. "Now, _allons_-"

_**"I'm here to the extreme!"**_

All of us turned to the unmistakable voice of Ryohei, who was standing at the doorway. "Oh, it looks like something intense was happening to the extreme! Did I interrupt something?!" Despite asking that, everyone could tell that he wouldn't stop interrupting even after being told that he was doing such a thing.

... Although I'd normally hate that side of him, circumstances had changed. "Ryohei-senpai!" I dashed over to him, my legs shaking a bit as I did that. "I never thought I'd see you here at such a great time!"

"What? Is there something you needed me for?" He seemed confused, but that was alright as long as I could avoid getting my ass kicked.

_Come on, everything is in your hands!_ "Well, what else would I need you for? Math, of course!" I knew I would regret having said such a thing, but was there any other choice? It was the first thing that came to mind! "You see, there are a bunch of problems I haven't quite been able to solve on my own, no matter how, uh... _extremely_ I try to solve them."

Tsuna was staring at me blankly, while Gokudera scowled at my blatant lying; I didn't care, since I did not want to train with Dino. "What?! No wonder you needed me! I will help you to the extreme!" _Yes!_ I cheered in my mind, having actually succeeded at this kind of thing for once.

... Although I didn't really want to, I resigned to the fate of having to watch Ryohei try to solve my Math homework after I got out of this situation. "Ah, really?! Thank you, senpai! If that's the case, then we should move over to Tsuna's room since that would be the best place to solve these problems."

"Then let's go to the extreme!" As Ryohei ran over at full speed, I found myself standing there, not having the reaction time to process that he was already gone.

_Oh!_ When I finally did, I found myself staring at Dino, who was smiling in resignation. "You got the best of me this time, but the next time I see you, you better prepare yourself; _après tout,_ this is all for your sake."

"Um, could you just call it off? Anyway, I'll be going now..." I nervously stepped away from the room, glancing at Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto, who seemed to have the same expressions.

As I heard a faint, "good luck with those math problems," from a very carefree Yamamoto, I realized the fact that I had just treated Tsuna's house as if it was a public space, completely disregarding Tsuna's privacy by having just simply invited Ryohei and myself to his room just so I could escape getting my ass kicked.

_... Wow, what have I done? I'd better get him some sweets as an apology..._ I looked down to see the better-looking whip I was still holding in my hand, sighing. _I'm gonna end up keeping this one too, huh?_

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**Author's Notes:**

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**Handy Glossary:**

Petite amie - girlfriend

Mon - my

Mais - But

Quoi - What

Impuissant - This is also an English word, but if you didn't know, this means powerless, or weak, or incapable

Je comprends - I understand

Allons - Dino was about to say 'allons-y', which basically means 'let's go'

après tout - after all

Oh yeah, I made Dino speak French (please don't kill me)! Do not worry though, I have studied French so I at least have some basic understanding of it: so yes, I shall use only my poor knowledge of French and some extensive research that you really should correct if it's wrong, I beg of you! But you must definitely be wondering, "Why did you make Dino speak French words?"

Well, there is actually a specific reason for this: later, in the manga, Dino gets to be an English teacher due to certain circumstances, so I thought it would be funny if Dino actually really liked the French language instead. At first, I was planning on making him say full sentences occasionally, but that was too complicated in terms of dialogue, so I just made him occasionally put French words in his dialogue: now, I'll simply wait for the time where I make him go like, "C'est pas possible!" XDD I don't know, I just like how it sounds.

Anyway, this was Dino's introductory chapter, so hopefully you found it somewhat entertaining... please? I don't know, this chapter made me a bit nervous, probably due to all the French. The next chapter will probably be the one that introduces I-pin, so I'll try my best to come up with something nice for her!


	60. Chapter 55

**First Words:**

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**L's Cappuccino - You're right about that: I got most of my ideas for this at night, when I was about to go to bed ^^' And no, Dino was planning on going outside for that: I actually asked myself the same thing while I was writing the chapter, so I thought it would be better to have him say, "Let's go" which would suggest that he would move out of there since I didn't want other people to think that as well.**

**collegegirl - Haha, now if only _this_ update had been just as fast... The whip came to mind again only because of Dino and from then on, I've been giving it heavy consideration: you might see Observer-chan using that whip again someday... maybe. Lol I never thought Dino looked French, I just thought it would be contradictory to the fact that he'd later be an English teacher for him to like the French language instead; my inspiration right there. Reborn had many reasons for his actions, but I'm not sure if I want to tell them all: two of them at least would be that Observer-chan was pretty much already integrated in Tsuna's group, which warranted for her to at least have some strength so as to overcome her own issues and become a dependable ally for Tsuna that way; the other one is actually one of the theories Observer-chan thought up on the last chapter, so I'll just have you guess which one it is ^^ (in the end, I just told you one reason lol). Dino is a really cool character, so he was nice to write; I'm looking forward to him in the Varia Arc!  
**

**Guest - I actually thought my idea for Dino was so silly that no one would really like it, but I guess I was wrong? But then again, I'm pretty sure I've done much sillier ideas (like Byakuran being God and whatnot), so maybe I shouldn't worry about such things anymore ^^' Yeah, Giannini was more important in the Future Arc, so I also only remembered him when I thought of what I was going to do with it. Lol if you go by that logic then Dino is already a sadist, wut XD I also like I-pin, so I hope I did her justice here! Lol this story is _made _of headcannons ^^**

This story got 2 favorites and 2 followers while I was trying my best to come up with something for I-pin, procrastinating and studying for exams, yay! I've been getting more reviews lately too, and that's pretty fun.

Anyway, I have to admit that I struggled a bit with I-pin, having written _three different beginnings_ for this chapter that all got scratched out until I finally got a clear idea of what I was doing: when I did, I practically wrote the whole chapter in one day. This chapter has a bunch of characters involved in it just to introduce I-pin but Observer-chan also has quite a bit of spotlight: due to this, I've noticed that there have been a bunch of chapters that give her attention as well, which I can only consider as 'unconscious character development' on my end since it wasn't on purpose. I don't know, doesn't she seem more part of the group now, or is it just me? I was actually planning on addressing that on this chapter, but it felt out-of-place so I decided to move that topic to a certain special chapter I have planned for later ^^

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Reborn wasn't around this time since he was taking care of important mafia business. Well, at least I'm sure Reborn had to occasionally send letters to the Ninth about how things were going and take care of some things related to that in the series, so you should assume he was doing something along those lines here;**

**\- I haven't mentioned it in previous chapters (like Chapter 48), but in this story, Bianchi wears goggles often, despite having no idea that they make Gokudera not pass out: this is because Reborn told her the goggles looked good on her, which was an obvious lie to make her wear them that frequently. With that in mind, that's why there are times like this chapter where she has them on, when she wouldn't do so in the series (yes, Gokudera must be so thankful now XD).  
**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 55: Dealing with too many birds**

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Today was one of those Sundays where I had woken up too early for my own good: despite feeling very drowsy and wanting to sleep again, I wouldn't be able to do it, which would force me to actually get out of bed and be active at hours like 8 am on the weekend. I never liked such days, so I wasn't in the best of moods.

To energize myself, I would always go for an especially long walk and in Namimori, that old habit did not seem like it was ever going to die out. At the moment, I was returning home from said long walk, though I had yet to even pass by Tsuna's house. Even so, I was pretty close to it, so my own home wasn't that far away from me. _Ugh, what am I gonna do today? Is Haru even awake? I guess she would be, but I can't just call her so early in the morning to hang out... Wait, what time is it again?_

Wanting to clarify how much time I had spent walking, I decided to check the time on my cellphone, promptly taking it out of my pocket. _Alright, so-_

_**"Waaaaaaah!"**_

I almost dropped my phone from how startled I was, the sudden scream immediately making me turn around. _What's this all about?!_ Running at full speed in my direction was Lambo, seemingly crying.

... Assuming that he was running for dear life, I decided I was probably better off giving priority to what was happening rather than checking the time. "What's wrong?!" I asked him since he was running at such great speeds that he was already close enough for me to talk to him.

"T-Tail-Head...!" He didn't even hesitate to tell me what was wrong, possibly because he was more focused on escaping than on being bratty. Since he hadn't stopped running, I was unable to ask him anything further from the fact that he had already passed by me: he was pretty good at running away, I noted. _But what does he mean with that anyway?!_

... With the intense sound of chirping coming from the horizon, I could already assume it was nothing good. _Whatever it is, I'm out of here!_ Unfortunately, from the walk, my legs were already somewhat tired, so my speed wasn't good enough to avoid the terrifying yet confusing sight that was closing in on me.

"What the...?!" Flying in the air were so many birds that they practically looked like some sort of yellow, fluffy cloud heading towards me, with a tiny figure running in the same direction. The figure seemed to be a person, but a very strange-looking one: it looked like a young child as old as Lambo with Chinese red clothing, whose hair seemed to have only grown at the top of her head to form a braid; either that, or it was some hip hairstyle I wasn't aware of, but it still was quite strange.

That child seemed to be as frightened as Lambo, but it didn't look like the birds were aiming for her: if anything, their flight speed seemed to match the child's pace almost too perfectly, as if they were following her lead or something. _So that's what he meant with 'Tail-Head'... but why would he warn me of her and not the freaking birds?!_ Seeing as they were already getting so close to me, I was unsure if running away was the best choice or not: besides, there was a high possibility that I was not going to be targeted by the 'bird cloud', so it seemed like a better idea to just wait for them to pass by me.

As I had expected, the child, which I was assuming to be a girl, ran past me which made the birds pay me no mind as they flew along. I sighed in relief but out of curiosity, I observed where the birds were going: after all, the look in the little girl's eyes seemed to have been locked onto a certain direction, as if she knew where she was going, despite the fact that she was also quite scared.

After running ahead for a bit, it seemed like the little girl was turning to a particular house, and the birds were dutifully following her._ Don't tell me..._ Instead of entering from the door, she got in through the window in Tsuna's room, and all I heard afterwards was a scream and a lot of chirping.

_... Somehow, this doesn't surprise me._ Since Tsuna was like a magnet for weird things, it wasn't too shocking that the little girl and the weird birds had somehow gotten to know him and became friends with him or something of the sort, so my blank stare was instinctive.

"Get away from the Tenth, you stupid birds!" I heard Gokudera's voice shout at them, a predictable explosion resounding throughout the street afterwards. The birds seemed to have been smart enough to back away from the window momentarily due to the explosion, but they made sure to try to get in again so as to get to the little girl. I walked a bit closer but did not dare to get too close to that agglomerate of birds, afraid that I could be one of its victims.

As I thought of it, the birds I was gazing at seemed very familiar, as if I had seen them somewhere before. _No way..._

The first thing that popped to mind was an abandoned building and, well, when was the only time I had ever ventured myself into one? _That one bird from Kokuyo...? What? That makes no sense! Besides, that was only one! Or was there a whole mountain of them while I wasn't looking?!_ Even if Mukuro (or whoever had the birds, I don't remember) had died, I doubted birds had the ability to just change loyalties all of a sudden, especially since the little girl running from them didn't seem like she was so keen on them following her around.

_... Maybe they're another kind of birds: I mean, they aren't speaking, so that's way more likely._ As I could recall, the bird I had seen in Kokuyo could speak like some sort of parrot, since it had lured us by its terribly high pitched voice. **"Aaah!"**

From the noise inside the house, I could assume things weren't going so well on Tsuna's end, but I was still not sure if I was better off doing something: would I even be useful? More importantly, wouldn't that be somewhat dangerous? _But I wouldn't want to just leave them like that..._

As my conscience and my inner demons were battling for supremacy, the birds' chirping continued strongly and they seemed to take over practically half of the house: it was a miraculous coincidence that the kitchen window, where I was able to see Tsuna's mother, didn't have birds covering it, almost as if ensuring that someone like her wouldn't notice them (since I'd doubt she'd ever know otherwise). _It would be kind of dangerous though, what if those birds pecked me to death or-_

"Woah...!" I uttered in surprise at the gust of wind formed from the sheer speed of something, or rather, someone flying towards the location: since there was only one person in Namimori who'd just fly around as he pleased, I had no doubts as to who that was. _Hibari the super hero...! He came to save the day?!_

That seemed to be the case, as he had stopped right in front of that house, also not on Nana's line of sight. _That's awesome, I won't actually have to do anything!_ I had seen him take care of all sorts of situations, so his strength was in no way doubted by me: if his opponents were birds, no matter how many they were, they'd stand no chance against him.

... Or so I thought, but he wasn't moving any further. "Huh...?" He stared at the birds intently as he floated in place, almost as if carefully processing their existence._ What are you standing around for, it's kick-ass time!_ He looked to one side, seemingly like he was... hesitating? _No way. Just no, no way. It's Hibari, there's no way he's not gonna kick ass!_ More than nervous or doubtful (like any normal person hesitating), he had a displeased expression on his face, not liking the situation.

"Seriously...?" Since I was too far away for him to hear my low muttering, he didn't react to what I said; I wasn't even sure if he had noticed my presence. He turned his head back to the birds and narrowed his eyes, staring at them once again.

... Was he actually considering leaving his super hero duties aside because that meant biting birds to death? "Hmph." Somehow, I was able to hear that from Hibari as he turned to the side and started flying off. _Seriously?!_

"H-Hey...!" From my very nervous and surprised shout, Hibari only spared me a glance before he was gone, and it wasn't a pleasant one. _So I'm actually going to have to do something?!_

My body stiff, I turned to Tsuna's house again, observing how not all of the birds had gotten in yet. _Damn it, what was that about anyway?! He's a super hero, shouldn't he be kicking ass?!_ I doubted I could jump to Tsuna's window as swiftly as the little girl did (no normal person could, really), so I decided I'd get inside through the door.

Dashing towards it, I found that I had no choice but to awkwardly knock on the door and wait for Tsuna's mother to open it since I had no key to the house. _This is so dumb... Why am I even doing this?_ While I thought that, it was also clear in my mind that I couldn't leave them alone to the birds, as I was sure the situation wouldn't turn out alright for them, even if Gokudera, at least, could handle himself somewhat well.

To my surprise, the one who opened the door wasn't Tsuna's mother, but a familiar woman with dull pink hair. "You're... that one girl from Kokuyo, huh. What are you doing here, can't you tell what's happening upstairs?" Bianchi eyed me with a bitter expression, similar to the one I was making during my morning walk before.

"T-that's why I'm here," I uttered before inviting myself in, not wanting to take my time speaking to her. Although we'd meet occasionally, I didn't have much of an impression of her beyond the fact that she was somehow in love with Reborn (ew) and that she'd sometimes wear goggles for some reason, like now, and also on that chaotic 'study session' before.

Even so, the fact that she was older than me made me slightly unnerved when in her presence, weirdness aside. "Hmph, is that so..." Bianchi looked at me with a curious expression, thinking to herself. "Well then, if that's what you want, then you're going to cooperate with me; is that clear?"

"Huh? Y-yeah," I reluctantly accepted, having put no thought to it. _What?_ I had only realized that I had decided to cooperate with whatever her plan was after a while of actually processing it, feeling disappointed in myself for having been that intimidated.

Bianchi smiled, seemingly satisfied with my obedience. "Good." Immediately afterwards, her expression turned determined as she turned around and started moving. "Then let's not waste any more time; follow me while I tell you what you need to do."

"O-okay!" I nodded, and started walking as well, still feeling very nervous. I was unable to decipher her thoughts in the short conversation we had, especially because I had no idea of what impression she had of me: with her expressions changing to make for diverse emotions, it was hard to tell whether she thought badly of me or not, but I assumed she was alright with me if she made me cooperate with her.

_... She's not going to make me do something too dangerous, is she?_

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**. . .**

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Shivering, I entered Tsuna's room, Bianchi following behind me. She had briefed me on the plan, but I wasn't too confident about it: after all, my role was to calm down the source of the birds, which was surely the most important part of the plan. "Argh, damned birds...!" Gokudera scowled, grasping a few sticks of dynamite in each hand.

"Go," Bianchi muttered, pushing me forward. "Hayato, keep pushing them back; I'll be your support!" I was almost going to fall to the floor as I saw Bianchi going past me towards Gokudera's side, making me snap from my fear and avoid getting hurt for such reasons.

After all, I had the main role, so I couldn't just cower away! "I-pin, I-pin...!" I turned to where that was coming from and found Tsuna, whose expression was panicked as he called someone's name. Close to him, on a corner of his practically destroyed room, was the little girl that had caused the strange incident I got myself into. "It's alright!" Tsuna smiled so as to calm her down, but it wasn't working due to the dreadful situation he was in. "If you calm down, it'll all go back to normal, okay?"

The little girl was crying, seemingly with no idea of what to do: she probably blamed herself for what was happening, since the birds seemed to follow her. According to Bianchi, those birds had started appearing around I-pin (the little girl's name, I assumed) ever since the Kokuyo incident, acknowledging her as their leader: before, they were commanded by some old man named Birds, the one I had seen beaten that day.

Apparently, I-pin had defeated some other people working with Mukuro with some guy named Shamal, which made the birds, who found themselves with no leader, go to them some days afterwards: while Shamal was able to control them somewhat well and fend them off, Bianchi told me, I-pin had been struggling, sometimes causing the ruckus of today (which coincidentally happened when we'd be in school, making me never see them before).

The birds reacted to her emotions, so I-pin's extremely negative emotions like anger, stress, frustration and sadness would make them unable to listen to orders: the worst part about that was that by them not being able to listen to her, I-pin would become even more sad, blaming herself for the situation. With that in mind, calming I-pin would mean that she could control them, which would in turn make them go away; that was how it was solved the other times, or so I was told.

That was what Tsuna was doing, and also what I had been told to do by Bianchi, though I wasn't so confident that I could do it. I approached them both carefully, crouching so I wouldn't be so intimidating to someone like her. "I-pin... right?"

Tsuna turned to me in surprise. "What are you doing here? It's dangerous, you could get hurt!" Although I appreciated the fact that he was worried about me, I did not want to get reminded that I could get pecked to death by a cloud of birds.

"Don't worry about me for now, worry about her," I muttered, looking over a crying I-pin. I could only feel sorry for her, seeing her in such a state: she was only a little girl, so it was perfectly understandable that she was as scared as us, if not more. Besides, the birds that she had been practically forced to deal with were probably overwhelming to her, so there was no way I could ever put the blame on someone like her.

If anything, I would've been as overwhelmed as her, if I were in such a situation: I surely wouldn't have wanted to have my personal agglomerate of birds, especially when I already had my Holy Protection to worry about. "Sorry, sorry...!" I-pin repeated, still crying; she probably didn't even notice me.

"You don't need to apologize; it's not your fault," I said firmly, though I feared I wasn't assertive enough for my words to reach her. _How am I supposed to calm her down anyway, I don't even know her properly!_

Tsuna, seeing what I was doing, added, "she's right, I-pin: it's not your fault, so you don't need to feel that way...!" It was good that I had someone to help me, but the birds nearby were stressful to even look at; it was impossible to know whether they'd come at you or not.

"No...! Can't stop them...!" It seemed that she couldn't speak Japanese that well, so she only said those words, not even wanting to meet Tsuna's eyes out of possible shame. _Damn it, it doesn't look like this is gonna work... What did they do before to calm her down anyway?_

As I searched for other ways to deal with the situation in my mind, the only thing that appeared were memories of Kokuyo, particularly that time with Fuuta... _No. I'm not doing that again, I'm better than that! But then again, it would be for her sake and besides, it did work on me too when mom would do it._ I glanced at Tsuna, who was staring at me confusedly.

**"I-pin,"** I called, my voice uncharacteristically stern as I stared directly at her. _Plan B is way too awkward when Tsuna is right next to me, I'm not doing that!_ With those thoughts, I decided that while I couldn't just slap the poor girl in the face, I could at least try to be like my mother, as her words would hurt more than a slap in my perspective.

I-pin paused to look at me, seemingly confused as tears still fell down from her face. "Who...?" She meekly squinted her already tiny eyes, as if she couldn't see me properly. _Okay, mom, mom... What would she say?_

"Stop crying; crying is only troubling everyone even more." _Nailed it...! Kind of..._ Although I felt proud, I had the feeling my mother wasn't as insensitive as I was portraying her. "You're better than that, I-pin, so you can't just stand there and leave things as they are; you have to do something."

Tsuna stared at me in amazement, which faded when I started smiling awkwardly. "Or at least, that's what my mom would say... kind of." His gaze turned blank, as if his expectations had been crushed by that moment; I paid him no mind, not wanting everything to be ruined when she was actually listening to me. "Anyway, even if you think it's your fault, you're the only one who can do something about this! Alright...? So, go, we're counting on you!" Instead of smiling, I was keeping a serious expression for those words, wanting her to feel their impact as clearly as possible.

From the corner of my eye, I could see a smiling Bianchi who had glanced at me while I was saying all of that. _It was really just me taking inspiration from my mother though..._ I focused on I-pin instead of working myself up about that, finding that she was still staring at me. Tsuna looked at I-pin, and then at me, and at I-pin once more, as if seeing some hope in what I had done. _Success...? No...? Yes...? Please...?_

**. . .**

The tears had stopped. "Right..." She uttered. "Right...!" She stood up, a determined expression on her face as she did so. _Success, yes!_

"I-pin..." Tsuna muttered, feeling relieved and genuinely happy to see her finally calm. If he was feeling that way, I could definitely assume that he cared for her somewhat, possibly in the same way he cared for Lambo; he knew many children, I noted. It was probably because he wasn't bad with children, which didn't surprise me due to his kind nature.

I-pin turned to him, frowning apologetically. "Sorry..." She bowed slightly, and turned to the birds with a serious expression. "I take care of them!" She exclaimed to Gokudera and Bianchi, surprising only one of them. Bianchi simply stopped what she was doing, while Gokudera stared at her in surprise.

As I-pin put herself in front of the birds, Bianchi walked towards me. "You did better than I thought," she said, turning to I-pin with a satisfied smile. She urged Hayato to come over and simply stared at I-pin afterwards, wanting to spectate what was to come.

"You did that?" Gokudera asked me when he got to us, staring at me suspiciously. _I'm pretty sure Tsuna could've done that too, okay?!_ Although I was sure Tsuna would've have been able to calm her down after a while, he definitely could've done that faster with his Dying Will Mode, since that would've made him more calm and assertive in the situation he was in.

That made me wonder about Reborn's location, but I couldn't just get lost in that train of thought when I was asked a question. "Well, yeah," I muttered, unsure of what his reaction would be.

"... Hmph, I guess you're not completely useless then." His words were unexpected to me, but in a positive way since he wasn't being completely rude (he was still pretty rude though): lately, he had stopped thinking I could be a traitor, so his attitude had become more tolerable to me.

Even so, I still didn't like him much, and he probably felt the same way about me. Deciding not to answer Gokudera, I focused on I-pin, whose emotions did seem to be calming the birds down. "Master~!" One sang, as if happy to see her okay.

Four other birds sang the same thing, which made I-pin look down at the floor for a moment, only to stare at the birds again, unwilling to break down. "Go back...!" She exclaimed with her soft, high pitched voice, trying her best to make the birds understand what she clearly wanted.

**"Yes~,"** they all repeated at once, and, going out from the window, started leaving the area, chirping some song as they went. Really, it ended to easily that it was amazing to see.

I sighed in relief, staring at I-pin who seemed a bit nervous afterwards. "It's finally over..." Tsuna muttered, also relieved at this fact; was he ignoring the awful damage done to his room, or did he simply not notice?

"Done..." I-pin said, more to herself than to anyone else. I couldn't help but smile at her, since she really had done her best; it was impossible for me to feel negatively about someone like that, even if I tried. She then turned to us, smiling meekly: it was quite the heartwarming moment, as everyone was smiling and everything had been solved.

_It took a lot of work and it was really weird but hey, at least it didn't end that badly... if we ignore Tsuna's room._ I-pin was looking through one of us at the time, as if searching for someone in particular; that made me curiously stare at her, wondering why she would do that. She stopped when she spotted me and Bianchi, and squinted her eyes in an effort to see us better: did she have bad eyesight?

I was right next to Bianchi, and I did happen to be pretty close to her height, so I wondered if she could tell us apart. Well, since my hair was brown, maybe I-pin wouldn't confuse us that easily, even with bad eyesight. "Thank you...!" She uttered happily and swiftly dashed towards me, hugging my legs.

"Woah...!" She let go after my reaction, still smiling despite my startled expression. "Um, you're welcome," I said, not used to these kinds of situations. "J-just make sure this doesn't happen again, okay?" Embarrassed from the attention I was getting, I turned my head to the side, away from everyone's stares.

_This is kind of weird..._ I felt somewhat proud of myself for having succeeded at the plan, causing its success, but at the same time, it was still very embarrassing to have that acknowleged by others, probably because I wasn't used to it. _But then again, who'd get used to all this anyway? I mean, I'm-_ "Yes...!" I-pin responded with joy, snapping me out of my distracted state. As that made me break out of my embarrassment and all the strange feelings that had come with it, I realized something very important that I had been forgetting all this time.

... I took my cellphone out of my pocket and saw that it was past 12 pm, way past the time I was supposed to return home.

**. . .**

_Damn it, not again! Why is it always like this when I get my walks interrupted...?!_

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**Author's Notes:**

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Whew, this was quite the big chapter just to introduce I-pin! I was actually very stumped with I-pin, having no idea as to what to do with her, but then I remembered the Kokuyo Arc where, in the end, Hibari never got Hibird; then I remembered that Future I-pin beat the Bloody Twins, and that the birds were watching that at the time.

Yes, that's what made me make I-pin have Birds'... birds. Well, half of them: the other half belongs to Shamal, who's also not too happy to have them. Speaking of Shamal, I'm not going to introduce him in some chapter, he's really just gonna be mentioned until he appears in front of Observer-chan and actually talks to her, which is pretty fun. Anyway, I thought the bird idea was pretty funny and, as you can see, I was able to write a chapter with it.

A lot of characters that barely showed up in the story so far appeared in this chapter, particularly Bianchi and the much-missed Hibari, which made me quite happy; in turn, there was no Yamamoto, Haru or Kyoko ^^' I had fun writing this chapter mostly because of many characters involved with it, so hopefully you'll enjoy that part too. I hope I didn't screw up I-pin, I didn't want her to seem too uncool, but I imagined that she, in that situation, would be pretty sad.

Observer-chan hasn't been as loud lately, and she's been better at handling situations: I think this is a sign of her getting close to everyone, no? Or is it just me who thinks that? At least I notice some differences: everyone else seems to care about her existence more, and she can handle them better than before. Due to this, I was going to make the ending very focused on her feelings on this development, but it ended up kind of out-of-place since the chapter was about I-pin, so I decided to make it on a chapter more focused on Observer-chan ^^

Whatever the case, look forward to the next chapter? ;_;


	61. Chapter 56

**First Words:**

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**Guest - Ah, thank you! I'm glad I was able to do her justice since she's one of the nicer kids in Katekyo Hitman Reborn: her dialogue's slightly troublesome (purposely making mistakes is strange for me) but I really like her personality so I was kind of nervous. I wanted to make I-pin hugging Observer-chan's legs an adorable moment, so I'm also glad you thought that! It's nice to know that I'm not the only one noticing the slight changes in Observer-chan's attitude: I think it's because she's getting used to everyone, so she's more comfortable around them now; a lot of their weirder stuff is becoming routine to her too, so she's being less affected by their antics... slightly. While this accidental development is nice, it's kind of inconvenient when I think of my initial plans for the Future arc, where I wanted most of her development to occur. Welp, I guess I'll just have to change my plans accordingly! ^^**

**L's Cappuccino - It's nice to know that, since I wasn't as confident of this chapter: I don't know, it makes me slightly nervous whenever Observer-chan is being focused on; I just assume no one really wants to read that. Despite that, I don't want her to take a backseat to the story so I think I'll just get over those feelings and write her however I want. About Hibari, Observer-chan kind of finds out why he didn't do anything then in this chapter but I was assuming everyone'd be able to tell beforehand that it was because he liked animals. Despite that, it would make sense that the situation seemed so extreme that no one would _really_ assume it right away, so I guess it's justifiable: however, Hibari also decided not to act on it (he did deliberate on the matter, as strange as that is of him) because he knew the cause of the birds and that the others would be able to solve it, basically making him unnecessary; not only that, but as long as the birds were only bothering Tsuna's house, it was somewhat fine to leave them alone too. **

Damn, my replies are pretty big. Does this bother you? If it does, tell me and I'll (try to) do something about it! I dunno, I like disclosing the details of my story with others so I guess that makes my responses big? Besides, I also like talking with people... Whatever the case, this story got one follower, which is pretty cool!

This chapter was really like the last one: it took me a bunch of attempts to write it down until I found a much better idea and got through it really fast. Having no inspiration for Giannini at first, I had decided to write a chapter about Hibari: it didn't go that well due to a bunch of reasons, which made me have to erase a particularly hilarious scene involving Ryohei that I had written for that chapter (it still saddens me thinking about it). After that though, I got this really awesome idea that made me not only introduce Giannini, but also focus on Hibari! Not only that, but this chapter also makes me not have to write a chapter focusing on Yamamoto (and Gokudera got his fair share of focus throughout the chapters)! Do you know what this means?

_**There's only two chapters left until the Varia arc!**_ Woohoo, so much hype! I bet I'm the only one actually feeling the hype though ;_; Since there's no more need for chapters focusing on something, I can go on to the two kind of special chapters and then get to the Varia arc, so I'm pretty excited. I have many plans too: when the arc starts, as I've told you before, I'll go on a huge editing spree, merging chapters and taking out typos, all that good stuff. Anyway, I'll just shut up and let you read the chapter.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- In this story, the events of KHR's Chapter 53 (rather than the anime's canon since in there, Giannini was introduced after the beginning of the Varia arc) happened differently: instead of Gokudera turning into a small version of himself, he became an old man (50YL!Gokudera FTW) and Lambo ended up saving the day because he was the only other child around.**

**\- Despite the fact that they did skip the first class, everyone was not found absent in it: this is because Kyoko made an illusion of everyone being in class, sparing them from that fate. Yes, Observer-chan was very thankful for this when she found out.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 56: Dangers from a super hero and a weapon tuner that only I did not experience**

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_Wow, am I too early for once?_ When I got out of home, I found no one waiting there, as they had been doing ever since my birthday: the front of my house had basically become our gathering spot so we could all walk to school together. At first it was awkward to see them there but as it got more common, I had accepted it as part of my daily routine: it was actually rarer for me not to go to school with everyone. I looked to the right, then to the left, but found no signs of them passing through the street. _Strange..._

Since it was probably me who got out of my house too early, I decided to wait for them, not wanting to leave them behind or something of the sort.

**. . .**

**. . .**

_This is... weird..._ The times where there was silence and nothing happening were fairly rare in my life in Namimori, so it felt more awkward than anything not having everyone's voices as a background to whatever I was doing. While I thought that, I reminisced on my first days in Namimori: back then, I would occasionally go with everyone, but even then, I had no intentions of befriending them all; I would mostly keep to Kyoko, Hana and Haru.

However, as the days, weeks, even months passed by, things had become different. Rather than going to Tsuna and the others just because Kyoko or Haru wanted to go to them, I'd do so of my own volition; I had even started going to Tsuna's house without Kyoko, Hana or Haru with me. Really, it was becoming very clear to me that I was getting much closer to Tsuna as of late, which in turn was making me closer to everyone else in his group.

It was a strange change, the fact that I had started getting along with such weird people. I remembered my thoughts when I first visited Tsuna's house, which were about a wall that separated me, a normal girl, and them, a bunch of weirdos from ever getting closer: I did use to feel that way, to be honest. Even if I was friends with Kyoko, Hana and Haru or even Tsuna and the others, I never really felt like I was keeping up with them, or that they were even bothered with that fact: I never truly felt like I was completely part of the group, even if I was spending a majority of my time with them; I was simply 'there'.

However, it hasn't been that way recently: the fact that they had started waiting for me, the one who'd somehow take the most time to get ready, so I could walk with them to school and whatnot was proof of this. I was slowly getting more and more included in Tsuna's group, and I could feel it: it was a strange feeling, but it was also undoubtedly a positive one, one that I couldn't hate even if I tried. If that was the case, then the wall I had imagined before, standing firmly between me and them, was slowly but surely crumbling apart, and it wouldn't be strange by now to call at least most of Tsuna's group my friends.

... But was it truly alright? Was it truly feasible for someone like me to do such a thing if they were so strange, while I was perfectly normal? I wasn't sure of the answer to those questions, which made it pointless to think about them further. _Everyone's sure taking their time..._ Even after the time I spent reflecting on my relationship with everyone, they were still not around: were they really too early, or just terribly late? I decided to check the time.

_Huh, I guess I really just got out of home too early,_ I concluded, putting my phone back in its place. _If that makes me have to wait for them like this, then I probably shouldn't do it again._ After that thought, it came to me that maybe Tsuna and the others might have felt the same way in all the days they waited for me. _Okay, maybe I should hurry up in the morning..._ I sighed at my previous selfishness, frowning at nothing in particular.

"Meow!" I immediately turned to the source of that, which was obviously a cat. The cat was walking toward me, and probably voiced that sound so as to get my attention. It seemed fairly young in cat standards, but it was also very slim body-wise: I assumed it was a stray cat, which made it even stranger that it was heading over to me.

When it did reach me, it brushed its body on my legs as a sign of affection and stared straight at me. "Meow." I confusedly stared at it, slightly surprised. _What's wrong?_ It definitely wanted something, and it wanted it so desperately that it approached a random human like me for it. _Wait, does it want this?_

Since I had gotten off home faster than I ever thought I would, I had also forgotten to store my lunch in my school bag, so it was still in my hand as I distractedly waited for everyone. "Are you hungry?" I asked to the cat, despite knowing that it wouldn't speak to me.

The cat simply kept staring and uttered, "meow." _Kind of an obvious question, huh..._ Even so, I wasn't sure of what to do in this situation so I could only alternate between glancing at my lunch to glancing at the cat. _Well, I don't eat that much, so I guess I could give it a bit of my lunch..._

Despite those thoughts, it took me a while to actually open my lunch box and carefully decide on a part to share with the cat. When the cat saw that I had food on my hand, it seemed slightly more energetic. "Meow!" I couldn't help but smile at that as I gave it a piece of the fish I was going to have for lunch, the cat immediately smelling it before taking a bite out of it.

The cat ate it faster than I expected, and it still seemed energetic at the sight of my hand, which had no more fish on it. "Meow!"

"You want more? I'd also like to eat fish, you know?" The cat simply walked in circles around me, making me stand up so as to not have it steal or even knock my lunch box to the ground. I sighed, resigning to giving it one more piece of the fish I had. I crouched down again with my hand stretched out to the cat, which right away focused on the food being offered.

As expected of a hungry cat, it yet again started eating the fish fast, something that still made me smile: although I happened to like dogs more than cats, cats weren't so bad either in my perspective. "Meow!" It finished eating the small piece and seemed to be pleading for more, but this time, I wasn't so willing.

"Sorry," I muttered, smiling apologetically._ I can't really waste too much time on you either,_ I reasoned, wondering about the time. I noticed that my hand was slightly dirty from the fish, which made me take out the napkin that came with my lunch box to wipe it off. As I did so, I noticed something from glancing to the side: a pair of legs was at my eye level, just by my side.

I quickly put the napkin back on the lunch box and stood up, a disturbed expression evident on my face. _Why would someone ever want to watch a random girl give fish to a cat...?!_ The face I had identified from turning to the person in question only made my own become as pale as paper from sheer fear.

_Hibari the super hero...!_ To my complete surprise, Hibari was the one standing there, staring at me and the cat intently. "Hi-Hibari-san...! Good m-morning...!" I made an effort to greet him, despite not wanting to; it would've been rude of me not to do so.

Hibari focused his gaze on me from having been addressed directly, but he seemed more displeased from having done so for some reason. "What were you doing?" He asked, getting straight to the point without greeting me back. _Rude bastard..._

"Huh?" His question confused me, since I doubted Hibari would ever care about my endeavors if they didn't directly involve him. "W-Well, um, I was giving this cat a part of my lunch," I reluctantly answered, afraid of suddenly getting bitten to death or something of the sort; most encounters with Hibari would usually end that way.

The cat was staring at both me and Hibari, possibly waiting patiently for more food. "So it was hungry?" I awkwardly nodded, wanting to end whatever conversation I was having with Hibari as fast as possible. "Do you know whose cat this is?" _Why do you care...?!_

"I don't think it belongs to anyone; it's probably stray," I said, "I mean, it seems awfully slim for a domesticated cat in an area like this, and it did plead for food." The only reason I gave him such a long response was really so he wouldn't need to ask anything further, which would cut off our conversation faster.

_But seriously, what's making him ask all that?_ From his personality, I assumed he was the type of person that only cared about himself and his pride, so the fact that he was asking me about a cat of all things was very strange. "Hmph, is that so..." He turned to the cat, narrowing his eyes as he stared at it.

"Meow." The cat reacted to that, pleading food from him as well. _You're one brave cat, that's for sure..._ Although it was stupid of me to think that way, I expected even animals to run away from him due to how scary and ruthless he was but that seemed to not be the case as far as that desperate cat was concerned.

At hearing the cat, to my surprise, Hibari's gaze seemed to soften somewhat as he, the feared super hero of Namimori, started petting its head. _What... What am I looking at...?_ The cat seemed happy with that, as it purred and started circling Hibari; I could only stare blankly at the sight before me. _Is this an illusion? Am I being tricked? Is this guy even Hibari...?!_

Hibari glanced at me, which made me flinch. "I'll be taking it then," Hibari simply said as he held the cat with both arms, the cat surprisingly not minding that. _Just... What?!_ His vague words confused me, mostly because they suggested two things.

"A-as in, to an animal shelter?" I asked about the most rational of the two options, the second one being that Hibari was going to adopt him or something absurd like that._ Besides, he is a super hero so that kind of makes more sense... but when did Hibari ever make sense?_

Seeing as Hibari was by far the strangest resident of Namimori, and that was saying a lot, it was almost impossible to expect logical things from him. "What, do you want this cat?" His eyes seemed narrowed as he stared at me, making for a huge contrast between how he'd deal with me and how he'd deal with the cat: it almost seemed like I was inferior to the cat in his mind, which kind of pissed me off.

... The only reason I wasn't as pissed off was because such thoughts didn't seem so unlikely for someone like Hibari. "N-No, not really," I answered and shook my head afterwards. As I thought of it, Hibari had also left the area instead of taking care of the bird situation that one time: he seemed like he didn't want to deal with it because of the birds so I thought he just didn't like birds or something, but what if it was the opposite all along? What if he didn't deal with it because he _liked_ birds... because he liked animals in general?

"Then don't ask stupid questions," he said, "unless you want to get bitten to death, that is," he added, making me feel afraid yet also wondering about whether he would've ever threatened to bite the cat to death: the fact that such a thing didn't seem plausible in my head from what I had previously seen was slightly disturbing to me. _It was kind of a stretch when I first thought about it but maybe Hibari does like animals? It's honestly strange that he even likes something beyond biting people to death... Besides, is it really all animals that he likes? There must be a whole bunch of animals he's not interested in..._

_... Why do I even care about the kind of animals Hibari likes, it only matters that he might not kick ass if it involves animals! Well, at least the cute ones as far as I've seen... Maybe Hibari only likes cute animals or something? That sounds so unlike a bloodthirsty super hero, but that just might be it... Why am I still thinking about this?!_ "By the way," Hibari spoke up, surprising me as I didn't expect him to want to say anything further, "if you want to crowd around Tsunayoshi Sawada and the others, you should head over to his house instead of standing there; they won't be walking to school any time soon, after all."

With those words, Hibari flew off with the cat, which still seemed to miraculously not mind being held by Hibari. _In the end, I never got to know where Hibari was going to take the cat... But wait, what did he mean with that?_ I thought in fear, assuming the worst: had Hibari bitten them to death? _And how did Hibari know I was waiting for them anyway? He only got here when I was feeding the cat, and it's not like he takes the same path in the morning either!_

**. . .**

_... Hibari's information-gathering is almost as scary as Haru's._

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**. . .**

* * *

Whatever the case, I decided to do as Hibari had told me and headed over to Tsuna's house. From the outside, the house seemed fine... _somehow._

Tsuna's house would always get at least a piece of furniture destroyed per week but for some reason, everything would get repaired so fast that one would think it had never been destroyed in the first place. For example, that bird incident had practically ruined Tsuna's room but on the next day, it was intact, as if nothing had happened to it. _The Mafia's pretty scary..._

I knocked on the door and waited, a troubled expression on my face. _Just what happened in there...?_ If Hibari had been to Tsuna's house, it was very likely that something bad had occurred, at least something of a big enough scale for him to show up and bite them to death for disrupting Namimori's peace. "Ciaossu."

To my surprise, the one who had opened the door was not Tsuna's mother or Bianchi, but Reborn, who was standing there far too innocently for my peace of mind. "You're here for No-Good-Tsuna and the others, right? Then go on in; they're in the living room," Reborn said, sounding too casual for whatever had happened.

Even so, I walked in, closing the door behind me. "Um, yeah, I heard from Hibari-san that everyone was still here, so I thought something bad had happened," I explained, finding it unnerving that Reborn of all people had opened the door for me when that would probably never happen in normal circumstances.

"Oh, you met Hibari? Then I'm sure you've already assumed why no one's waited by your house." He was smirking, which unnerved me further; something bad had definitely happened.

I sighed. "Bitten to death... right?"

"Yup," Reborn simply answered. _I knew it..._

Having nothing else to talk about, I headed to the living room to find before me a terrible sight: the couch had crushed the TV as if thrown there, and burn marks could be seen throughout the floor where everyone (except Hana) lay unconscious. _Just what the hell...?_

From all the pseudo-corpses, there was only one I couldn't recognize: it was a man (?), or quite possibly a child considering his height, in a tuxedo; there was a strange, broken apparatus close to him, as if it were his. _Who's that?_

"Hey... there." To my surprise, the first one to rise was Yamamoto, giving me a strained smile not because of him not actually being happy, but due to the pain, I assumed. He struggled to stand up, but managed it after a while, saying, "Hibari suddenly joined our game... and went a bit overboard." He chuckled weakly, still recovering from what had happened.

I approached the scene cautiously, unsure of how to respond to his innocent words. "I can tell," I muttered dryly, glancing at the TV. "Why were you all here instead of going to school anyway?" I asked, having only thought of that at that precise moment. _Yeah, why? And I still don't know who that guy over there is..._

"Giannini made this new toy and wanted to show it to Tsuna, so everyone went to check it out too," Yamamoto explained, pointing at the one person I didn't know. _That's him?_ I reluctantly concluded, wondering if the destroyed thing was the 'toy' Yamamoto spoke of. "It didn't go too well though, and Hibari showed up after a while... and that leads to now," he finished casually, as if he hadn't been bitten to death.

_Won't you at least acknowledge that Hibari wasn't playing around?_ Yamamoto honestly worried me: he had an almost complete lack of awareness of all situations, and it wasn't a facade. Even so, he was also helplessly likable, as much as I didn't like that (ironically) at first: his cheerful attitude and amazing kindness were impossible to dislike, especially when it was so noticeable that he held no ill intent from any of his actions. He was completely unlike His Divine Presence, who was not at all trustworthy; Yamamoto was someone I could rely on... if he weren't so dense.

"Oh! Now that I think about it, we never got around to meeting up with you; we must've worried you, since you came over here." He smiled apologetically. "Sorry about tha- **Woah...!**" He couldn't finish what he had said because he had wanted to walk, but his right leg, limp, failed to fully execute that movement and made him lose his balance.

Seeing him fall, I rushed towards him, alarmed. "Watch out!" I shouted as I grabbed hold of his arm and mustered all of my strength to keep him from reaching the floor. I sighed in relief to see that I succeeded, and Yamamoto, finding himself secured, got right back to his standing position by supporting himself with my arm. I let go after that, taking two steps back from being a bit too close to him.

"Thanks," he said and chuckled afterwards. "I hope it's not broken..." He tried moving his leg, and winced in pain; despite that, it did seem to move. "Guess not," he concluded, "something like this'll heal in no time!" He grinned, having seemingly recovered from getting bitten to death in every way except physically.

_Couldn't you worry a bit more about yourself?_ "That's good to hear," I said, with not as much energy as one would usually say such words. "By the way..." I paused, wondering if I should truly go ahead and ask what I was about to ask. _I do have enough to eat, but no fish... and it wouldn't be the same without the fish, would it?_

"Hmm? What's up?" Yamamoto spoke up, filling the silence I was about to create. _It wouldn't be fair if I asked... but his cooking is so good, so I might as well... I could always eat my lunch at another time of the day or something._ My internal battle had basically ended in me not resisting the urge to ask for Yamamoto's lunch, so I felt slightly embarrassed for having hesitated.

I glanced at my surroundings for a second before muttering, "I found a cat, and it asked me for food, so... It would be really cool if you could lend me your extra lunch." I noticed that Gokudera was twitching somewhat, as if he was about to wake up. _I guess it would be kind of strange if only Yamamoto woke up... actually, that would be more worrying than anything._ After all, that would mean Hibari had _actually_ killed them.

... I did not want to imagine that. "Oh, that's all? Of course I'd lend you my extra lunch, I don't mind!" Yamamoto said, smiling in a carefree manner. "You don't have to hold back on asking, you know? You could even ask me for it every day," he added.

"Oh no, I wouldn't go that far... but thanks." The fact that he was so lenient on that sort of thing made me more uncomfortable, despite that not being at all what he intended: even with his approval, it seemed very rude to just take his lunch every day... but he'd still make extra lunch for no reason other than his love of cooking (why was baseball also a thing to him anyway...?) anyway, so nothing would really change.

I ended up smiling at his kindness, but it didn't last long. "What are the hell are you two idiots doing there, being all friendly and stuff..." Gokudera slowly stood up, glaring at us. "And since when were you here?"

He was referring to me, so I answered, "You weren't showing up, so I came over to see what was wrong." I noticed that I had omitted Hibari's appearance, but since it was accidental and not important to tell Gokudera, I paid it no mind.

"Hmph, so we were down for that long..." Gokudera seemed even more displeased from hearing that, probably because he was defeated by someone; Gokudera didn't seem like the type that wouldn't care about his losses. "And why haven't you woken the Tenth up yet?! That should be your first priority!"

_Well, he'd wake up eventually... hopefully._ "Sorry, sorry," Yamamoto said with an apologetic smile, almost dismissively. "At least you look okay; Hibari hit us pretty hard." He chuckled as if the fact that they all got bitten to death was nothing special.

... Well, as I thought about it, we had all been bitten to death at least once before, so it might not be as special anymore. "That was nothing!" Gokudera exclaimed, proudly walking over to Tsuna as if to show that he was completely fine, despite having just woken up. "Next time, I'll get that bastard good, just you wait!"

_Gokudera's pretty optimistic..._ After all, trying to defeat Hibari was a worthless effort... unless you had cherry blossoms with you since that just happened to be his weakness. _Why has no one exploited this lately? Actually, that might be a bad idea..._ Angering Hibari was never a good idea. "Tenth, Tenth!"

Gokudera shook Tsuna in an effort to wake him up as he called his name, looking determined. "Please wake up, Tenth!" I could only stare at Gokudera, Yamamoto also simply smiling as he did the same.

"... Gokudera-kun? Just what... Oh yeah!" After shouting that, Tsuna quickly stood up, looking alarmed. "Because of Giannini, Hibari-san ended up biting us all to death..." He muttered, looking somewhat depressed that it happened. He looked at his surroundings in gloom, which was perfectly understandable. "The living room is a mess..."

_At least it'll be repaired by the next day, but I can imagine it hurts seeing your furniture get destroyed..._ "Do not worry, Tenth! I'll take care of that super hero bastard for you!" Gokudera smiled at Tsuna enthusiastically as he said that, but it didn't make Tsuna feel much better.

"Please don't...!" Tsuna knew that wasn't a good idea (making Hibari angry was never a good idea), being the most normal resident of Namimori I had met: it would only bring him trouble if Gokudera decided to fight Hibari.

Gokudera looked pretty disappointed at Tsuna's words, but didn't say anything back at him out of respect. "Ha... Hahii... That hurt." A voice I recognized too well could be heard from a corner of the room, belonging to none other than Haru.

We all turned to look at her as she stood up groggily, almost as if one wrong movement would make her fall. "Are you okay?" Tsuna expressed concern for her due to that, asking her that question.

... I knew slightly better. "Oh, yes! I got a little roughed up by Hibari-san's sudden attack, but I am perfectly fine!" Her mood immediately changed back to energetic as she twirled around, proving that she could move well. Haru would usually change her mood rather quickly, being as quirky as she was. "Could it be that you were worrying about me, Tsuna-san? Ah, we are truly meant to be!" The fact that she liked Tsuna was also a main factor in her rapid mental and physical recovery, I noted.

"W-what?! How can you even conclude that?!" Tsuna protested, probably regretting his previous question. _Tsuna sure has it rough..._ He had to deal with Haru liking him when he liked Kyoko, who seemed to have no idea of his feelings towards her. If anything, from the time I spent with Kyoko, I found it more likely that Kyoko did not even think of her own feelings towards Tsuna, if she even had any.

As far as I could tell, Kyoko considered him a nice friend, and the rest was sort of blurry: romance was probably something that never came to her mind. _W-well, not that there's a need to be thinking that much about romance anyway..._ I really had no right to fault Kyoko for her lack of consideration for such things, as I avoided the idea of that kind of feelings altogether; they would only make me embarrassed. "Stop spouting that nonsense to the Tenth, woman!"

"It's not nonsense, it's love!" Haru countered, seemingly annoyed at Gokudera. One thing that I had noticed about Haru and Gokudera was that they would always end up bickering when together: being as... _passionate_ as they were, that didn't really surprise me. Besides, Gokudera was naturally against the idea of anyone pursuing the Tenth in any possible way, while Haru had the most obvious crush in the Universe for him.

It was obvious that they would never get along that well. "The Tenth doesn't need your stupid love!" Gokudera exclaimed, glaring at her with quite the troubled expression. I wondered how much he disliked her in comparison to me, only because he had been less hateful towards me lately: it was, I assumed, because he realized I was no spy.

"You're not the one who gets to decide that!" They kept on with their argument, making Tsuna stare at them blankly, not attempting to stop them; he probably assumed that was a pointless effort. Even so, Gokudera would stop if Tsuna told him to... maybe.

... At least he would try. "Ah, I got done in to the extreme..." Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the source of that voice, which was undoubtedly Ryohei's. "But next time, I won't have my guard down! We will have an extreme fight, fair and square!" Despite his initial muttering, he had stood up faster than most, possibly due to his extreme willpower.

Ryohei looked to the side, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Where did Kyoko go?! Kyoko?!" _Now that he mentions it...!_ When I arrived, Kyoko was also unconscious, near Ryohei.

"Kyoko-chan is gone?!" Tsuna uttered, seemingly panicked. It seemed like Kyoko had disappeared and, judging from her usual behavior, she most likely was never bitten to death in the first place. If anything, she must have placed an illusion so as to escape the terrible fate of taking one of Hibari's attacks directly. _Well, damn, she's the only one at school..._

_Wait, if Hibari said that they wouldn't be walking to school any time soon, wouldn't it be suspicious if she did go there?_ I gave that question some more thought. _Actually, she might make another illusion so as to make Hibari unable to see her..._ Illusions were awfully convenient, I noted. "Actually, Kyoko-chan just woke up earlier than everyone else and left for school," I said, not wanting everyone to talk about Kyoko's disappearance any further when its cause was obvious to me.

As I thought of it, why did no one but me notice her illusionary powers? "Oh, I see!" Ryohei said, no longer looking as worried. "Speaking of that, why are you here? You weren't with us before." He confusedly stared at me when he realized that, indeed, I wasn't with them before.

Before I could answer, Yamamoto chuckled and said, "she got worried since we weren't waiting for her and went to check up on us. If she weren't around, I could have fallen and hurt myself, so I'm glad she came over." _Too much information!_ It wasn't particularly necessary to tell anyone that I had used my surprisingly good reflexes to catch him before he fell to the floor.

Besides, if I hadn't been there, he might not have walked and fallen in the first place; there was no need to feel gratitude towards my actions. "Not really..." I muttered, looking to the side. "Anyway, I still don't understand what happened here, so I'd really like an explanation on that."

"If that is what you want, then I can gladly give it to you!" I flinched from the sudden voice answering me, scared of the fact that I didn't know it at all. "Whoever you are..." It also seemed like he didn't know me either, despite having started talking in the first place. I glanced at the source of the voice and felt even more nervous when I noticed it was the man I didn't know who had some strange machine next to him, still struggling in standing. "You seem to be on quite the friendly terms with everyone, but I have never seen you before. Who might you be?"

I hesitated in answering the small man, unsure of whether someone who completely wrecked Tsuna's living room was trustworthy. "I could ask you the same question," I retorted, deciding not to introduce myself.

"His name is Giannini, Vongola's weapon tuner." All of a sudden, Reborn had appeared again, introducing him to me. "I called him over."_ Vongola's... what?_ At the dangerous-sounding job Giannini apparently had, I could only doubt him further. Reborn turned to Giannini, and said, "she's one of Tsuna's friends; she's been around for a while."

_That's the most you can say about me?_ Well, since I was normal, it actually made sense that Reborn had no strange quirk or occupation to expose to him. "Ah, I see," Giannini said and nodded in acknowledgement. He then looked at the strange machine beside him with a troubled expression. "It seems like this will need intensive repairs; it was such a convenient machine, too..."

I glanced at Reborn confusedly, but asked nothing. "He uses that to move around," he casually explained to me, having picked up on what I had done. _Yes, he is practically Zakuro! Well, he's not as moody... which is a good thing!_

_But wait, Giannini used that to move around? Like, a vehicle or something? I don't even want to know..._ "Why did you call him over anyway?" Tsuna asked, probably because of all the trouble Giannini had caused him. If I were him, I would want to know why the hell my professional baby assassin home tutor had suddenly called a weapon tuner to my house, so his actions were fairly understandable.

... Somewhat. "Remember the gloves you got when you fought Mukuro? I thought he could be useful for once and look at them," Reborn answered, completely uncaring of Giannini's feelings. "In the end, they somehow became rocket launchers so it didn't go that well."

_**Rocket launchers?!** How can he even say that like it's no big deal?!_ "What?!" Tsuna exclaimed, reacting appropriately to what Reborn had said. "The scary gun Giannini started using were my gloves?! Is that why he wanted to show it to me...?" _Seriously, how could he even do that...?!_

Giannini was either terrible at his job, or an absolute prodigy. He chuckled nervously and said, "w-well, I thought that it would be convenient for your gloves to launch rockets from your fingers..." _That's going _way_ overboard!_

"Your stupid idea only made Hibari show up on us instead! Isn't your brain at least big enough to know that you shouldn't be testing fucking rocket launchers indoors?!" I found great irony in Gokudera's words, seeing as he would always throw dynamite around as he pleased. Despite that, he was right, so I decided to ignore that comment in my mind.

Giannini looked downright depressed from hearing Gokudera, so I couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for him... but only slightly; he did blast Tsuna's living room. "Come on, we're all fine now so there's no need to be that angry at him," Yamamoto said, which seemed to be an attempt at brightening the mood. That was strange to me, as it was well known to me that he was amazingly dense: perhaps I underestimated his intelligence, since there was no way that even the dumbest of people would not see that other people weren't feeling so happy.

_Sorry, Yamamoto..._ I apologized to him in my mind, feeling bad for having thought that badly of him: while he was very dense, he was also a good person. "So, Sawada's gloves transformed into rocket launchers? I don't get it to the extreme!" Ryohei said, looking _extremely_ confused.

... Damn it, I said it. "I don't understand either...!" Haru complained, pouting. _Well, yeah, it would be weirder if you did understand the process behind that..._

"You don't need to think too hard about it," Reborn said as if to make sure they were reassured and therefore, not questioning anything.

That ended up working, as they said nothing further; even so, they looked pretty confused. "Wait, what's gonna happen with the gloves?! He can fix them, right?" Tsuna questioned, slightly panicked.

"Of course he can. Or else..." Reborn glanced at Giannini, which was apparently enough to make him flinch, as if fearing the continuation of that sentence. _It's always so weird seeing this baby being intimidating..._ Even after I had experienced him being that intimidating, it was still strange seeing that working due to how he looked: it was as if he was in the wrong body or something of the sort.

_No way... right?_ "Y-yes, I'll take care of that right away!" Giannini said apprehensively, smiling in an attempt to look reliable but failed due to how obviously nervous he was. "There is no need to worry about that!"

"See? It'll be just fine." _Somehow, that's not cheering any of us up..._ Tsuna's blank gaze only proved my thoughts. "Now, aren't you supposed to already be at school? You just missed the first class."

_No, I totally forgot about that, my mom's gonna be so angry at me!_ Everyone seemed surprised this time, having probably forgotten all about that too. "Hahii, that's right!" Haru immediately ran out the living room, seemingly in a hurry.

Despite that, Gokudera looked especially affected by Reborn's words. "What?! This is terrible, Tenth! We missed the first class!" I wondered why he cared so much about school, especially since that wasn't at all related to his Tenth. _Well, I guess that's none of my business, huh..._

"We gotta go!" Tsuna's words were like a signal for everyone to start leaving the room, one that I didn't quite follow. That made me simply stand there as I saw Gokudera, Ryohei and Yamamoto run with Tsuna, only deciding to start doing the same after thinking about it for a while.

Due to that, I also hadn't noticed that Yamamoto had stopped running and turned around, looking at me with a grin. "Let's go," he simply said, standing there and waiting for me to respond.

**. . .**

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

With that, we both started running out of the living room, hoping to catch up with Tsuna and the others.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

_"_Hibari the super here...!_" - The Strange Land of Namimori, 2015_

Ah, there hasn't been one of these in a while, huh? This one's weak, but it still made me laugh when I realized I wrote it. Man, writing Hibari brings me such joy: he's just great comedy, and Observer-chan's reaction to seeing him pet the cat was amazing. I mean, we all know that Hibari likes animals, but Observer-chan has no idea and would never think Hibari would like such things. Besides, having Observer-chan say, "Hibari the super hero!" like some cheesy super hero thing is always so hilarious to me XDD

Not only that, but we got to see Giannini: what's his change, you ask? Instead of making everything not work, he makes everything be too effective instead: that's kind of why Tsuna's gloves became rocket launchers XD At first, I thought of something that had to do with the pun behind his name (his father is Giann_ichi_, as in the first of the Gians and Gianni_ni_'s the second) but this is so much better, to be honest.

Despite the fact that this chapter was supposed to be about Hibari and introducing Giannini, there was a lot of Yamamoto this time around: I guess that was because I haven't been writing much of him lately, and I do like writing him since he's so stupidly dense yet pretty cool at the same time. My initial ideas for the final scene were a bit too suggestive of Observer-chanxYamamoto so I decided to erase those since I'm pretty sure I don't want Observer-chan shipped with anyone... for now, at least (probably never though).

Well, whatever the case, focusing on Yamamoto (which I did unconsciously) proved to be even more convenient than what I had already planned (focusing on Hibari and introducing Giannini was already like two birds with one stone) since I was planning on making a chapter focusing on Yamamoto; I'm trying to cement everyone's relationships with Observer-chan, if you haven't noticed. Now I only need to write two more chapters and start the Varia arc!

Hopefully you'll look forward to that? Well, I guess you should be looking forward to the next chapter before the Varia arc... or the omake that will come before that, oh yes 8D


	62. Chapter 56,5

**First Words:**

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_**Be sure to not skip chapter 56 ^^  
**_

Hey, look! An omake! There hasn't been one of these in a while, huh? Well, I got inspiration for it this time, so here it is! It's as short as I wanted it to be, to be honest: seeing as this is supposed to be a bonus chapter, I wouldn't want it to be huge or anything of the sort.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Although it was fairly ambiguous in the last chapter, Hibari did take the cat to an animal shelter: it's part of his super hero duties to ensure the safety of animals too!**

**\- For all intents and purposes, Hibari _is _the police. This is why you don't see the police at all in Namimori: that only makes the fact that the mafia's next boss and a whole bunch of his future subordinates are living there much more convenient than it should have been.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 56.5: Omake 5**

* * *

As I walked out of my home, intending to go on a morning walk, I heard a sound. "Meow!"

"Huh?" I turned to the source of that, only to see a cat.

... A very familiar cat. _Isn't this the one Hibari took away? What is it doing here?_ I stared at it confusedly as it walked closer to me, brushing on my legs. _Does it want food again?_

Seeing as I had none on sight, that might not have been the reason it came closer to me. I crouched and stretched out my hand, wondering what its reaction would be. As expected, the cat immediately approached it and smelled it. "I don't have any food for you toda- hmmm?"

The cat only brushed its head on my hand, as if it wanted me to pet it. _Wait, is that what it wants?_ I found myself considering the cat's request and, having nothing to do, my course of action was obvious.

I started petting the cat's head, smiling since it seemed like the cat was enjoying it. "So this is what you wanted..." I muttered to the cat, staring at it. "I wonder why you're here..." _I mean, Hibari took the cat away, so how did it ever return?_

"About that..." I jumped from the voice I suddenly heard behind me, startling the cat as well. I turned around, scared at the fact that I recognized that voice far too well.

Hibari was right in front of me (since I turned around), in his terrifying... 'glory'. "That cat actually had an owner, so I gave it back to her." _I have a feeling this _somehow_ makes me screwed..._ Nothing good came out of any conversation with Hibari.

Hibari had picked up on my confused expression, making me curse the fact that Hibari wasn't actually dense. "Don't you remember? You told me it was a stray cat." _And that _somehow_ makes me screwed...?_ "Which means you made me waste my time and take it away from its owner for no reason."

**"Oh,"** I uttered without thinking, my voice cracking. _Okay, _now_ I know why I'm totally screwed, this is not good!_ "B-but how was I supposed to know it wasn't a stray cat? It didn't have a collar or anything of the sort," I countered, hoping that would make him not bite me to death despite the likelihood of that never working. Was the cat's familiarity with humans actually due to it being domesticated, instead of it being that desperate?

The answer to that question did not matter in the situation I was in, so I ignored it completely as I focused on Hibari, who seemed, as I had expected, unfazed at my words._ Should I run away now or hope for some miracle...?_ "Oh? Then why didn't you just tell me you didn't know instead of wasting my time and disrupting the peace in Namimori?" _Making a poor lady lose her cat for a few days constitutes as disrupting Namimori's peace?!_

... As cruel as that was, Hibari was obviously exaggerating. _Besides, who wouldn't try to give you a clear answer?! No one wants to get bitten to death!_ "Well, I just assumed..." I had nothing more to say, knowing that telling the bloodthirsty super hero that I feared getting bitten to death was not a good idea.

"I didn't need your assumptions," he stated, completely ending any chance for more arguments; there was nothing more I could use to defend myself. _I was planning on going for a walk but..._

As Hibari prepared his tonfas, I prepared myself for the fastest speed I could muster from my feet and legs.

_... A jog's totally fine by me!_ At the precise moment I thought that, I started running for dear life, hoping that it made for enough of a head start to somehow outrun Hibari.

"For misleading me and disrupting Namimori's peace, I'll bite you to death...!" I heard that from afar, and realized that it was because he had already started running as well.

_Oh no..._ And so, I wasn't even able to go for a hectic jog, much less a peaceful walk around Namimori.

My last thoughts before suffering my expected fate were only these:

_Damn that cat! Is this how you repay me...?!  
_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

And this is the omake! At first, I was considering putting outtakes of my previous idea for the last chapter since one of its scenes was pretty hilarious, but I found that to be kind of strange for this story, so I gave up on that idea.

Hibari's more talkative than you'd think: a lot of fanfics make him out to have that 'all cool badass guys only say hn' syndrome (or make him a tsundere for some reason wtf), but Hibari actually does talk to you if you talk to him; it just won't be that pleasant for you... and you might end up bitten to death. Besides, he'll also talk to you if he has business with you: in this omake, he was gonna bite Observer-chan to death so yeah, he talked to her... and it wasn't pleasant, see?

Whatever the case, Hibari's quite the guy. I really like writing Hibari, but he's admittedly pretty hard: he's so hard to write that I re-watched a bunch of episodes just to study him; I had NIGHTMARES about him from studying him so hard. And yes, those weren't pleasant either. Even so, he's just so hilarious: from the moment you read that Hibari was the one who spoke to Observer-chan, you knew the outcome of this omake.

Anyway, hopefully you'll look forward to the next chapter? ^^


	63. Chapter 57

**First Words:**

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**L's Cappuccino - Your headcannons are as great as always! I'm not particularly sure if I get what you're saying about Giannini... But the mental image of Hibari having a whole flock of small fluffy animals is adorable! Sucks that I-pin's the one with the birds now. But, about the question you left in your review to the omake, were you serious, or was it a joke? Maybe my internet skills are failing me and you were joking, but if you were serious, I'll answer accordingly: you see, you were implying that Hibari would always end his conversation with 'I'll bite you to death' or similar words, so I took the liberty to (lazily) count all the times he has ended a conversation like that in the whole story. It actually amounts to 4 or so (I did say I lazily counted that), out of his many appearances in the story (seriously, I got surprised at how much I write Hibari in here). Even in Chapter 64, he didn't end his conversation with Observer-chan by saying that he'd bite her to death, he ended it by telling her that everyone was at Tsuna's house! However, if you were joking, this is my answer: no, Hibari _can't stop won't stop_ biting people to death XD It's his way of living!  
**

**TenTen - I'm glad you think so and damn it, I can only answer this in Chapter 57! ;_;**

Anyway, I've had this chapter planned for so long, you can't even imagine: I think I was already thinking of this chapter at Chapter 10 or so, which was when I decided to give more thought into what I'd do with the Future arc. This chapter isn't that important, but it's honestly the only hint of plot you'll ever get until the Varia arc, so I think it has some significance. Speaking of the Varia arc, that's gonna come real soon! Hype!

I've been looking through my earlier chapters, and noticed how much I've improved. Also, is it just me or was Observer-chan way more snarky back then? Whatever the case, my writing has improved since then, which makes me want to re-write all those chapters. With that in mind, I'll be re-writing everything when I start the Varia arc, which is also when I'll be doing that editing spree I was talking to you about.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- It might seem like everything that gets broken in Tsuna's house gets repaired overnight, but this actually isn't the case. It takes a few days to fix everything, but no one notices since the damaged parts are all covered in illusions, and they're not Kyoko's doing: think of the Varia arc, where the school was also covered in illusions after getting damaged in the Storm battle;**

**\- You may be wondering where the second bullet Lambo shot went: fortunately, it ended up hitting no one, though it did hit a house. Depending on the damage, Hibari may fly over...**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 57: Travelling to a mysterious future**

* * *

Today, I was planning on going to Tsuna's house... though it seemed like no one else but Gokudera had decided to do the same. "There is no need for you to worry, Tenth! If you have anything you cannot understand, you can count on me to explain it to you thoroughly!" _Yeah, but you explain things _too_ thoroughly._

"Y-you don't have to do that, Gokudera-kun," Tsuna immediately said, knowing that requesting explanations from the genius that was Gokudera was a waste of time. Gokudera's knowledge on all the theory behind something bordered on frightening, and the fact that he would explain it _all_ to Tsuna without considering that most people wouldn't be able to memorize or find all of that useful just to apply a few formulas only made me feel sorry for him. "I think I'll manage on my own..."

Tsuna was lying, of course. With his horrendous grades and lack of understanding on every subject, it was almost impossible for him to pull through on his own without _extreme_ willpower (but even then, Ryohei was still pretty bad at Math) or someone's help. "Speaking of that, Reborn calls himself your home tutor and all, but I've never seen him teach you any subject," I said, a curious expression on my face.

Reborn was a very mysterious existence to me: the fact that he was professional baby assassin working for the mafia was already ridiculous to begin with, but he was also completely unpredictable, and always seemed to have a reason for his actions that no one would quite understand; despite that, they would somehow work out in the end. With that in mind, getting to know even a little piece of information on Reborn contributed to calming my mind, as I wouldn't have to fear his future endeavors if I knew of them beforehand. "Are you implying that Reborn-san isn't accomplishing his duties properly, woman?"

Gokudera glared at me as he asked that, seemingly offended. It was also amazing that Reborn had earned Gokudera's respect, since the only other person I've seen that he would treat nicely was Tsuna: Reborn was special in many ways. While Gokudera's reaction had immediately been to defend Reborn, Tsuna reacted in a completely different way, as expected of the most normal person of the group.

... Or that was what I would have thought, if not for the fact that Tsuna's expression displayed only fear. "He does... 'teach' me... if you can call it that." I could feel nothing but pity from hearing Tsuna's response; I was regretting having ever brought Reborn up. His gaze was blank, as if reminding himself of previous events. _Just what does that baby do to Tsuna...?_

"What are you talking about, No-Good-Tsuna?" Even Gokudera jumped back from suddenly hearing Reborn's voice, finding that he was on the fence of Tsuna's house, right next to us. We did happen to be almost there, but that fact was nothing worth pointing out since it was mostly normal to be heading over there. "I do teach you properly, Vongola style."

_Vongola style? That sounds terrifying..._ After all, the Vongola was a mafia family so such a style couldn't be anything harmless. "Re-Reborn!" Startled, Tsuna shouted his name, probably afraid of getting kicked or something for his words. As pathetic as it seemed from an outsider's perspective, Tsuna would get kicked around by Reborn a lot, and it did look painful somehow. Whatever the case, many of Reborn's actions were questionable, especially when he was supposed to be a home tutor. "Don't you think you could teach me the normal way...?!"

"No can do," Reborn immediately answered in a casual manner. "That's how I roll so you gotta deal with it." _Then it's not how everyone does it in the mafia! I think... Do they all suffer as much as Tsuna when being taught?_ I doubted it, but I didn't really want to question it either; talking about the mafia wasn't something I ever wanted to do.

In fact, it still made me uncomfortable that I was partially involved with the mafia. At least I had Holy Protection? However, that wasn't particularly trustworthy when considering His Divine Presence. "That's just unreasonable!" Tsuna exclaimed. "You're at least supposed to make sure I improve my grades, like an actual home tutor!"

"It's not my fault that you're No-Good," Reborn innocently countered, shrugging. "Maybe I wouldn't need to activate explosives if you were actually smart enough to remember the formulas." Seriously, the purposely innocent tone only made his words scarier, ironically. _Explosives...?!_

_How can he even survive that?!_ Maybe they'd serve as a threat, so they weren't aimed at him... or, thinking back on that day in Kokuyo, he was probably just very resistant to damage; he did survive getting crushed by a rock. "I'd consider using a teaching method that doesn't involve destroying your student's property," I meekly suggested, knowing that using an argument involving Tsuna's safety would not work on Reborn; that was why I didn't mention it.

Despite that, Tsuna didn't catch on to that and simply turned his blank gaze to me, probably finding my words to be really cruel. _I'm trying to help you out here!_ "You don't need to worry about that-"

"I'll get you this time, Reborn!" Daring to interrupt Reborn as he spoke was Lambo's voice, shouting from afar. Everyone but Reborn turned to where it had come from, which happened to be a window on the second floor of Tsuna's house. "Die!"

**"Gyahahahaha!"** He jumped out that window as he laughed, taking out glittering pink grenades from his afro. _Just how many weapons do you have in there?!_

Reborn was still unfazed, and continued speaking as if nothing happened, "since I make sure the only thing that gets roughed up is Tsuna."

"Hey!" Tsuna uttered, momentarily shifting his attention to Reborn. _If you do make sure nothing's damaged then why is Tsuna's house always damaged, are you saying it's not your teaching that does that every week?!_ Was it the fact that it would always get fixed afterwards that made him say that?

... Was that his doing? _The mafia really is scary... But awfully convenient too, if you can just make them fix everything so fast._ "You stupid cow, stop bothering Reborn-san!" Gokudera shouted to Lambo as he fell closer and closer to Reborn, making me notice that he was doing something to the grenades.

_Is he trying to take out the pin- Oh no..._ I stared at Lambo in horror as I definitely did not want to experience the full power of a grenade, especially if it was part of his family's 'fabulous weaponry'. Most of those weapons had special effects to them, and dealing with them wasn't so simple.

"You seem awfully curious about my methods though," Reborn remarked while effortlessly jumping from the fence in Lambo's direction. He was so fast that Lambo was unable to react to his sudden appearance properly, and simply ended up momentarily surprised and distracted from taking out the grenades' pins. _Yes!_

With one kick, probably with even more force than what he'd use when doing it to Tsuna, Reborn sent him flying off and to the side, where we were. **"GUPYAAAH!"** Lambo screamed, dropping the grenades from his hands and making them fall to the ground. I instinctively stepped back, afraid that they would spontaneously explode or something of the sort.

"Is it because you want me to be your home tutor too? I may not look like it, but I'm a very busy hitman," he stated with a smirk as he landed back on the fence, "so that'll never happen." I was already shaking my head furiously at the possibility of ever having someone like Reborn teaching me something, not wanting to end up like Tsuna: suffering greatly with explosives.

Meanwhile, Lambo was on the ground with his two glittering grenades near him. Staring at him, I noticed that there was something sticking out of his hair, something that I somehow recognized. _How can he keep everything in his hair anyway?!_ It was the 10-Year Bazooka, one of his fabulous weapons that I had actually seen, but never experienced.

The fact that it allowed the target to time travel did not seem effective as a gun, and I, at least, didn't feel like checking on my future self's affairs: it would only unsettle me to see how exactly I got through life. "Tch, that stupid cow... See? This is why you shouldn't trouble Reborn-san; just give it up already," Gokudera said, scowling at Lambo as if annoyed.

Well, it did seem like they didn't get along well, so it didn't surprise me: when I'd see him and Lambo together, they would usually be arguing or trying to kill each other with their deadly weapons; that would often cause trouble on Tsuna's part. Lambo slowly stood from the ground, teary-eyed. "Gotta... calm... down..." He muttered, his voice very quiet as if it was hard to let out any words.

That was also a predictable action from Lambo: since he'd always get beaten around when he'd do something wrong (which was most of the time), he'd end up saying those words and, unable to contain his sadness, start crying. Despite the fact that I knew him enough to guess his behavior, I didn't interact with him much: Kyoko and Haru would play with him and treat him kindly while Hana would immediately want to leave the vicinity; I was usually the one dragged off to keep her company.

Not only that, but the few times there was any interaction between the two of us, it wouldn't end well since he'd be a rude, spoiled little prick to me: naturally, I decided to avoid him as much as possible so I didn't mind being dragged off by Hana when she was around. "Waaaah, I can't calm down at all!" Lambo's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and reminiscing, being that loud. Tears and snot trailed down his face quickly as he sobbed, making for quite the pitiable sight.

In his fit, Lambo seemed to have taken out the first thing he could grab, which happened to be the bazooka sticking out of his hair. With a swift movement that had probably been nothing more than an emotional impulse, he took it out and shot it two times in the same direction, shouting, "die, die, die!" Lambo was not even looking at where he was aiming, I assumed.

... After all, he had aimed those shots at me. "Huh?" I heard him utter confusedly as he stared down at the gun he was holding, and then at me. "T-this was totally part of my plan...!" He tried sounding confident with those cruel words, something I would rip apart in my thoughts if not for the incoming bullets.

_**"AAAAAAH!"**_ I screamed as the first one got dangerously close to me. Meanwhile, I was frozen in place from the shock of something like a bazooka having even been aimed at me in the first place, unable to properly process my next course of action.

The only things I heard before the first bullet hit were Tsuna shouting out my name and Gokudera getting angry at Lambo once again. As smoke engulfed my surroundings, I noticed that I never got to feel the second bullet, as if I no longer was in the same location as before for it to connect. _Am I... in the future?_

At least I wasn't dead but that wasn't anything surprising: even if it was a bazooka, it was somehow not lethal. When the smoke started dispersing, the future landscape I could only barely see seemed as bright as I thought, but not as technological. _Where am I...?_ I looked around, only to see white, white, and more white.

The walls surrounding me in the apparent alley I was in were completely white in color and looked surprisingly clean. The floor was equally white, giving off a cold feeling from it and from what I could see of the street outside the alley, the only things not white were trees and the passing people running about. The alley only had one exit: basically, it was a dead end.

The only things not sickeningly white in the alley were the numerous assortments of cardboard boxes and (miraculously) black plastic bags of garbage; needless to say that the alley I was in didn't have the most pleasant of smells. The boxes and bags made for some sort of 'trash barricade' that reached over my height, and I happened to be behind it, as if hiding. _Ew, why am I here?!_

Since the 10-Year Bazooka replaced my future self with me, it was pretty obvious why I had ended up in such a place. _I was here...? Just what happened to me in ten years?!_ That was when I noticed the uproar coming from outside the alley: many shouting voices of men and women of all sorts of ages could be heard, as well as many footsteps, as if most were running. I could see some pass by the alley without even sparing it a glance, seemingly agitated.

It seemed like the town my future self had been in was in a state of panic, but I had no idea as to why that would be. _Maybe I was just hiding from whatever's causing this?_ That actually seemed plausible, as the town was probably in panic due to something very scary, which was something I would never want to mess with, no matter how old I'd get. I decided to focus on hearing the nearby voices, keeping myself hidden.

"Have you... any signs of the Apostle?!"

"Where's the Apostle?!"

"She... that far!"

"Lady Apostle... are you?! Answer me!"

_Wait, so there's no super scary thing that I should be fearing right now?_ It seemed like the uproar in the town was not actually because of something dangerous, but due to the disappearance of some 'Lady Apostle', whoever that happened to be. _Maybe I wasn't hiding after all..._ That thought only made me depressed, as that meant there was a chance that I was actually living in the streets. _Damn it, I won't end up that way!_

**. . .**

_... I really should study more often._ I decided to drop that train of thoughts, as there were more important things at hand. _So, everyone's freaking out because this Apostle chick disappeared... Why is it even that big of a deal? Sure, a person going missing isn't good at all, but I don't think a whole town would panic over it... Maybe it's just this street?_

It didn't seem very likely that an important-sounding figure like the 'Lady Apostle' would be something that only one street would freak out over, so I scratched out that hypothesis. _If it's that bad, then what was I doing near garbage in a dead end anyway?_ That was the biggest mystery of all. _Maybe I was new to this place and panicked when I saw everyone freak out over this Apostle person._ That would make for a reason as to why I'd run away from the crowd, hiding at an unlikely location.

As I thought of it, I had met Shouichi by finding an alley to run to and avoid fangirls; maybe my future self's situation had been a similar one. _Well, except this time, there's no Shouichi,_ I thought while grimacing. It would have been nice if I had anyone to explain the situation to me, as I had no idea of what was going on. There were a few options I could choose, like getting out of the hiding spot and check the situation more closely, but that seemed far too reckless of a decision when the town seemed to be so panicked.

After all, it wouldn't be for no reason that everyone was freaking out over some Apostle. "Lady Apostle!" I flinched from how close the voice sounded to my location, only to notice that someone had gotten the brilliant idea to go to the alley to look for the Apostle. "Lady Apostle, are you there?! You have no other location to escape to, so please, show yourself!"

The man's speech seemed polite as he shouted that, seemingly nervous. _Is the Apostle that important?_ I was unsure of what to do: was it the best course of action to show myself to the man, or to keep hiding? I mean, I clearly wasn't what he was looking for, so even if I showed myself, nothing too shocking would happen but, judging by the situation, the man could find it suspicious that some girl was hiding in a random alley.

I could hear his footsteps getting closer to me, while also hearing other people nearby the alley. "Is the Apostle here?!" One of them asked. I was starting to feel very apprehensive: if a big group of people gathered, it wouldn't be very good for my situation. "Lady Apostle?!"

_Argh, what do I do?! If they find me out, who knows what will happen!_ The future seemed to be more than what I had imagined, but in completely different ways. "Are you hiding behind that, Lady Apostle? That's an unsightly place for someone like you; if you were in your right mind, you would know this and come back." I felt my heart beating loudly, almost as if expecting to be frightened at the moment he'd reach behind my hiding spot.

_There's no way out, I can't do anything but wait!_ I took a few steps back, which unfortunately made slight noise; whether the man heard that or not was questionable. Beyond that, I stood there, trembling. _Just what's wrong with this town? What's wrong with this future?!_

"Lady Apostle!" I shrieked at the close proximity of the voice and at the fact that I could see the man that originated it, being as scared as I had assumed I'd be when that would happen.

The man stared at me in surprise, which slowly turned into confusion, possibly from having figured out that I really wasn't the Apostle he was looking for. "Hey, is she there?!" I heard a voice shout, which became last thing I had heard from the future.

Smoke suddenly surged out of nowhere again to take me, making me only see the horrified expression of the man as I did so at the last minute. _Wait, I can already go back?_ Considering the smoke, that must have been the case, but I had never expected it to be that soon.

... As I thought of that, I reminded myself of Reborn telling me that the bazooka's effects would last only five minutes, but I was in no normal situation to just breathe a sigh of relief for that._ I'm so glad it's that short... Seriously, I don't want to go to the future ever again._ If it was that scary of a future, then I surely did not want to end up in it again. _Just how the hell did everything turn out that way? And who was the Apostle?_

Those would most likely be questions I'd never get answers for, especially when I wasn't planning to travel to the future any time soon. Noticing the smoke dispersing, I felt even more relief than I already had from taking in the familiar scenery of Namimori, a town which I had never thought of in a completely positive light before. At least, as strange as it was, it had a 'kinder' atmosphere to it, and no abundance of white. "Y-you're back...!"

I snapped my head at where I heard Tsuna's voice and, sure enough, he was there, but he wasn't looking so good. I looked around and found that Gokudera didn't seem well either, and Reborn had quite the serious expression. Tsuna and Gokudera's faces were slightly pale, but while Gokudera's expression was a mix of confusion, disquiet, shock and determination, Tsuna's seemed much more serious, yet carrying some signs of worry. "Yeah," I said weakly, focused on how they were feeling. _What happened while I wasn't here?_

"So, how was the future?" Reborn asked, going back to a casual demeanor. It didn't do anything for the mood, so I couldn't help but hesitate for a while, thinking of what to say that wouldn't make things even worse.

_Was my future self really scary or something?_ I doubted it, but there was no other explanation as to why such a tension had surged. "It wasn't... what I expected," I answered while grimacing. "Whatever the case, I don't want to get hit with that bazooka ever again." Speaking of bazookas, Lambo was nowhere to be seen. "By the way, where did Lambo go?"

I had only noticed that while answering Reborn, so I found myself slightly confused. "He ran away after you got shot; I'll take care of him later." The connotations in Reborn's words were dangerous, to say the least. Although he'd ignore Lambo most of the time (almost always, really), when he did pay (slight) attention to him, it was never pleasant: lots of violence would be involved in that.

"He could've at least apologized..." Tsuna muttered with a troubled expression and sighed. _Is he back to normal?_ "Hey," he suddenly uttered, wanting my full attention. He seemed somewhat nervous, as if hesitating; I decided to simply wait. "N-never mind." _What was that about?_

I was expecting him to get over his conflicting feelings (whatever they happened to be) and tell me something, but that didn't end up being the case: was it that bad of a question? "Um, alright," I said, not wanting to insist on it despite being curious. "Aren't we going? To your house, I mean."

"Huh? Yeah," Tsuna said, slightly confused from the question seeing as it was obvious that we were all going to his house. He had a moment where he seemed to be staring blankly at me before then turning to Gokudera. "Let's go, Gokudera-kun?" He didn't seem so confident asking that, but he was smiling. _Okay, _now_ he's back to normal, I guess._

_What about Gokudera though?_ Gokudera immediately shifted all of his attention to Tsuna after hearing his words and smiled proudly. "Of course, Tenth! You didn't even need to ask!" With that, I positioned myself on Tsuna's left, making Gokudera take his right as we got to walking to the gates of Tsuna's house. That made Tsuna be in the middle, which was the best for both me and Gokudera: we were better off not next to each other.

Usually, Gokudera and Yamamoto would be next to Tsuna, and I'd be next to Kyoko or Haru as we walked to school or home; needless to say that this kind of set-up was rare. "So, what were we talking about again?" I asked, wanting to start a somewhat pleasant conversation. "Hmmm... Before talking about Math and teaching and all that, I'm pretty sure we were talking about Haru's school, but, well, she isn't around now so there's no point to that anymore..."

I glanced at Tsuna as if requesting his help, only to notice something strange instead. "W-well, what about you? You never did tell us anything about where you're from," Tsuna suggested, but I was busy staring at his shoulder. For some reason, it was slightly darker than the rest of his uniform, but it didn't seem stained.

... In fact, it seemed wet instead._ How in the hell did he get water on that one specific area? Besides, wouldn't anyone usually care if that were the case?_ "Hey, answer the Tenth's question!" Gokudera's words made me snap out of those thoughts, instantly feeling bad for Tsuna since he had brought up something to talk about, just like I wanted.

"Ah, sorry about that," I said as we reached Tsuna's doorstep. "You were asking about where I'm from? Well, it's nothing special, but alright." I decided not to ask about Tsuna's shoulder and instead carry on the conversation I had started, wanting to brighten the mood. _Tension doesn't fit these people.  
_

I smiled and, before speaking about my old city, I glanced to the side, wondering about Reborn since he hadn't said anything. _He's not here?!_ I looked at the house's fence, but he wasn't there either; he had disappeared.

_He's good..._

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

And so it ends without Observer-chan telling you details about where she's from! Honestly, I don't want to throw random names around, which is really why I didn't write about it. As far as the city itself though, it's basically just a normal city: it's on one of the colder prefectures, so Observer-chan is used to a lot of snow; this is also why she likes summer clothing (since she wouldn't get to use it that often). It's considered a city, but it's one of the smallest, and fairly safe; Observer-chan was acquainted to a considerable amount of people there. Despite the snow, Observer-chan would go on a lot of walks there as well.

Anyway, putting Observer-chan's background aside, you got to see the future! It wasn't so nice though, was it? I wanted to keep a very vague and mysterious feel to the future so you wouldn't be able to guess anything without having a few doubts. I really just wanted to give you and Observer-chan a sneak peak of a little piece of the plot of the Future arc, so I hope it was somewhat intriguing. Speaking of that, to get a better feel for what would happen with adult Observer-chan in the present, I actually wrote that part down: you might want to see it, but since it's not in the 14 year old Observer-chan's point-of-view, there's no way I'd do it. Besides, I wrote Observer-chan's real name there and there are a ton of spoilers, so I will not be persuaded to show it to you!

If you're curious about adult Observer-chan though, I can at least talk to you about her: she's calmer and more pessimistic than her younger self, but she's also more outspoken and blunt. She became kind of stern too, like her mother, except that she doesn't have her intuition or the same kind of sarcasm. Honestly, I think really big when it comes to this story, as in, I have big plans: I'm planning on writing a sequel which covers the manga-exclusive arcs, and I'm also thinking of both a prequel (covering the start of KHR until Observer-chan arrives) and a spin-off which would cover adult Observer-chan with everyone in the future. Seriously, I should just stop wanting to write this story so much, it's getting out of hand!

I kind of want more Hana in this story; I haven't shown much of her lately. Hopefully she'll be around for the next chapter, which will be the last chapter of this Daily Life arc before the Varia arc! Hype, so much hype! Look forward to it? ^^'


	64. Chapter 58

**First words:**

* * *

**L's Cappuccino - Ah, then my internet skills _were_ failing; I'm sorry for misunderstanding then ^^' But damn, it was _that_ obv- I mean, what are you talking about?! You were saying that as if Observer-chan was the _apostle_ or something, pfft! Hahahahaha! Haha... ha... It's a secret, I tell you! ;_; I don't care how obvious it is, I won't agree or deny that assumption!**

Anyway, this chapter turned out _completely_ different from my original plans: this chapter, as it is, was supposed to be the ending of Chapter 57, which I had later decided to merge with my original idea for Chapter 58. In the end, my original idea for it, which would basically be some sort of continuation to Chapter 57 that would touch upon a whole bunch of things, ended up erased: why, you ask? Because it was uninteresting, was dragging out for _way_ too long, and also because it would make Observer-chan know too much and ruin all my plans. Really, the last thing I want to do is to show you or Observer-chan the plot for the Future arc: I dunno, I feel like it would ruin everything if you got to know a considerable part of it beforehand; it wouldn't be as dramatic or engaging.

Well, that doesn't matter for now: what _does_ matter is that _**the Varia arc will start on the next chapter! Woohoo, so **_**much**_** hype!**_ I'll only start editing everything when I write the next chapter, because that's when it'll truly start. Like, seriously, it makes me so proud of myself that I got this far: I always told myself that in this story, I at least had to reach the Varia arc before getting Writer's Block but honestly, to hell with that! I'll only stop when this story's god damn _over! _Because I want to see the Future arc too! Hopefully you'll all stick with me until then ^^

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Observer-chan is still keeping that dress she wore on her birthday around, but in that one corner she hid her whips in; this is so no one can see them again. Speaking of that, her parents and old friends got really surprised when they suddenly saw her in a dress, and Observer-chan had to hurriedly find an excuse for it to hide that it was because her uniform_ got burned off by her Dying Will. _With that in mind, she ended up saying that she lost it in PE and decided it would be rude not to wear the dress at least once: while her mother decided to believe her, it earned Observer-chan a lecture from her about being careful with your own possessions, which she didn't really like hearing (since nothing like that happened);**

**\- Also, the ring is being kept in a safe place, _so_ safe in fact that Observer-chan's mother was able to see it (dat sarcasm). She stared at it confusedly for a while, but figured it was a gift too: she also thought that whoever gave it to her had no idea of Observer-chan's tastes at all. Little did she know that the person who gave her that ring was none other than God...  
**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 58: The unexpected mandatory meeting with His Divine Presence**

* * *

Suddenly, I found myself on a cold, white floor. _What the...? How did I get here? I was on my laptop and..._ "You were sending an email to your friend and fell asleep," a voice I didn't like hearing completed my thoughts, making me gain full awareness of my location. _Byakuran...!_ I stood up, facing His Divine Presence who was fairly distanced from me. "In the flesh~."

_Why did you call me, didn't you say you wouldn't warn me about anything?_ "I only said that I wasn't going to tell you what you'd need to know, not that I wouldn't warn you. Speaking of that, the next incident will be coming your way soon! You won't have to do anything though, so don't think too hard about it." _How can I not think too hard about something like that? Besides, I don't know what you mean with not needing to do anything._ "It's exactly as I said: you just need to wait and watch."

"Anyway, that wasn't my main reason for calling you here." _What else would you want from me?_ I thought warily, taking one step back. Byakuran laughed as He watched me do so, and said, "You don't need to be that scared! It's nothing dangerous."_ I'd argue that your entire existence is dangerous, but I don't think it would be worth it._ "How can God be a dangerous existence? You really say the funniest of things~." He decided not to take my comment seriously, which annoyed me further. "If you already think this badly of me, I can't even imagine what you'd think of the actual Devil."

_I don't want to imagine that either. You're not going to introduce him or something like that, right...?!_ "Of course not, I barely talk to him anyway." I breathed a sigh of relief. "Though, I do wonder why you hate me so much: I'm making sure you don't die, and somehow that makes _me_ the bad guy; you have an interesting perspective of things."_ You're the bad guy because you're clearly suspicious._ "Suspicious of what?" _Bad things,_ I simply answered in my thoughts, having actually no evidence of His bad deeds beyond making me involved with the mafia.

He chuckled. "See? You have no reason to hate me." _What about the fact that you don't tell me anything? That would make anyone suspicious._ "I tell you what you need to know; why would you want anything else?"_ You shouldn't be dictating what I need to know!_ "That's where you're wrong: if I'm God, then why can't I dictate what you need to know? In fact, I could even be dictating your every action without you knowing~." His tone sounded slightly more eerie as He said that, His eyes open as they stared right into mine.

Due to that, it took me a while to actually think straight and answer Him, despite the fact that He was most likely teasing me. _If you were, you wouldn't make me be suspicious of you._ "Good point~," he cheerfully remarked. "Besides, controlling you wouldn't bring me any benefits, so why would I bother?" _Can I at least trust that you won't put me under mind control then?_ "Sure~." _Somehow, that doesn't make me feel any better._ "It should, unless you actually want me to control you."

_No!_ I immediately denied, making Him chuckle. I sighed. _Weren't you going to tell me something before we got completely sidetracked?_ "It's rare for you to bring that up, you usually like being off-topic." _I don't, it just happens somehow._ "Maybe we get along better than you think." _Maybe it's the opposite..._ I glared at Him in annoyance as I thought that, finding the idea of me and Him getting along repulsive. "You should really start considering how blasphemous all your thoughts are: you'll end up in Hell~."

_With you protecting me? I doubt it._ "Who said you'd be protected in the afterlife?" _Let's just get back on track, please..._ "Alright~! So, remember yesterday?" I stared at Him blankly, crossing my arms. _You _are_ planning on getting back on track, right?_

"Of course I am, that's why I asked you about yesterday. Oh, and I'm only saying yesterday because it's past midnight, so don't think I'm talking about the day before yesterday." _Uh, okay... I remember yesterday, but what does that have to do with anything?_ "Well, tell me about it." _As in, what happened...? You'd know that, you're God._ "I want to hear it from you though."

I paused, and stared at His Divine Presence intently, as if that would suddenly make me know His intentions. He was still smiling cheerfully, which only served to annoy me; I decided to just do as He said. _Alright... Yesterday, I went to school, and-_ "You can just skip to the juicy parts~." _Of course..._ I sighed, wondering about what constituted to His Divine Presence as the 'juicy parts' I was supposed to tell Him about.

... Or well, that was what I thought, until I reminded myself of when I got shot with the 10-Year Bazooka. _So that's what He wants me to talk about?_ "Bingo~." _You could've just told me, you know?_ "Anyone would assume that's what you'd start with." _Well, I guess, but... Whatever. So, I got shot by the bazooka, and went to the future, ten years later._ "How was it like?" _Everything was white and clean, like..._ I noticed the white-ness of my surroundings and my eyes widened in shock.

_Like _this_ place...!_ "Oh, that sounds nice~." My hands formed fists from the anger that surged in me as I glared at His Divine Presence. _Yeah, because that's going to be _your_ fault, huh?! What did you do to the future, Byakuran?! Everyone was running around, panicked because some 'Apostle' disappeared, and the guy who thought she was in my location talked to her as if she'd gone crazy... It was all your doing, right?!_ "Hmmm~... Even if you tell me that now, I haven't done anything yet, so I wouldn't know."

_Yeah right, you're God!_ "Even God can't always be looking through the future; I wouldn't have asked you about it otherwise, would I?" _Well, why did you want to know about the future, then?_ "I was curious, especially after seeing your future self." _My future self? Wait, yeah, she was in the present while I was gone, right?! Did she say anything about her situation?_ "Nope; that's why I decided to ask you about it." _Then what did she do...?_

"She ran to Tsunayoshi-kun and hugged him while crying, it was pretty touching~. But, beyond that, she didn't say anything important." _Crying...?_ It then hit me that Tsuna's shoulder had probably been wet due to my future self crying on it, making me finally understand that mystery. _So, you... don't know why she was like that?_ "Nope, as I said, that's why I asked you."

**. . .**

_… Well, I don't know either. Everyone was just looking for the 'Apostle', whoever that was._ "That's weird~," He remarked, but He was still keeping a smile. He didn't seem so troubled with not getting the information He wanted, but maybe that was because He probably had other means to attain it; He was God, after all. "But, if that's all you know, then I guess that's that." I found it strange that He was so carefree when it was totally His fault that the future was going to be that way, making me narrow my eyes. _The future's... not gonna end up that way, right?_ "Who knows?" _Don't say that, damn it! Just, ugh... who's the Apostle anyway?_ "Good question~."

I found myself tired of arguing with someone like His Divine Presence, so I sighed. _That's all you wanted to talk about?_ "Yup!" _Great, then get me out of here._ "Hmmm~? This is rare, you usually want to stick around to get your questions answered." _It's not worth it; you don't tell me anything. I mean, you're gonna do something terrible in the future, and I can't even do anything about it._ "You can't just assume that, what if I actually did something good instead? Besides, there's no guarantee that the future will stay like that." _So, it will change...?_ "That depends on your actions, doesn't it?"

_... I guess so. I'll... try to make it not happen._ I looked down at the floor, as white as the floor I had stood on in the future. "Well, good luck with that~." I looked up at His Divine Presence again, who was smiling cheerfully with His eyes closed. "By the way, what did you think of my birthday present? It came in handy, right?" _Why did you have to remind me of that...?_ "Because it's important! You're going to need the ring for the next incident; keep that in mind." _What is it for?_

"You'll know when the time comes." _Why did I expect to get answers...?_ "Anyway, I'll see you later~." He didn't react to my thoughts and, considering His words, I already knew what was going to happen. I collapsed to the floor, finding no energy to move or speak.

_Damn it... Couldn't you at least make this a more pleasant experience for me...?_

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

My eyes shot open only to see a keyboard. I lifted my face from it, knowing that I definitely had marks, and noticed that there was something covering me. _A blanket? Since when did I have this over me?_ My room was dark, as the lights had been turned off, but not by me. _Did mom do this?_ That seemed to be the only explanation for it, since she had done such a thing a few times before.

I smiled, as my mother had even put a blanket over me: carrying me to bed was admittedly hard, so I was content that she had at least done this. _Oh yeah, wasn't I sending an email to Shouichi?_ I turned to my laptop again, and moved the mouse so as to make the screen light up and show me the web browser.

**. . .**

It didn't seem to be working, and that was scaring me. _Wait, it's not on?! I didn't even send the email, now it's all gone!_ I had a confused expression as I stared at my laptop intently, wondering why it wasn't on anymore.

_... Mom. She totally turned off my computer!_ I thought, having also experienced that a few times. Even so, this time was different: all of what I had written had been erased!

_Damn you!_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

And so, it ends here! Like, wow, Byakuran and Observer-chan have WAY too much chemistry, it actually gets in the way of the story: as you can see, they usually go off-topic really fast. I'm starting to seriously think I could write a chapter about Observer-chan and Byakuran talking about blouses, dragons and pens and make it over 3000 words long! They'd probably deviate a lot from those topics too, and it would be amazing.

It's admittedly hard to progress Observer-chan's relationship with Byakuran, mostly because Byakuran is evil and Observer-chan suspects the shit out of him: I originally planned on doing that, but I've given up now. Anyway, dat harcore lying from Byakuran though: I'm not gonna point out the specific parts where he lied but come on, did you honestly think he was telling her the complete truth? Observer-chan only believed him partially, knowing that Byakuran wouldn't tell her much else; that's why she didn't bother pressing on.

Whatever the case, I referenced the Devil in this chapter, and that was for one reason: because one of the KHR characters is the Devil. You won't get to know who it is that early in the story though, so feel free to guess its identity ^^ Oh, and this is the last chapter before the Varia arc! Hype, hype, hype! The Varia arc's gonna start after this!

So, look forward to the next chapter?


	65. Chapter 59

**First Words:**

* * *

**L's Cappuccino - Haha, Tsuna sure would think that XD Checkerface is a very good guess, but he's not the Devil: if he were, it would kind of mess up my plans for the Future arc, to be honest. I don't feel like giving hints because that would give away his identity really fast, but I can at least say that he _might_ show up in the Future arc... maybe. Depends on how it'll go ^^' And no, it's not Kyoko (would've been my main guess, if I hadn't given his gender away XD).**

This story got a favorite while I was actively writing this behemoth, hell yeah! 8D The editing spree will start after this chapter, but I think I'll only really get to it a few days after uploading it: after that, I'll have less people clicking on this, which will make them less confused with all the major editing I'll be doing. I mean, I plan on merging chapters togethers and all that, so I wouldn't want someone to get caught up in that.

Anyway, brace yourselves, for this chapter is the longest I have written. I am not kidding. Remember all that hype? Yeah, I think I got _too_ hyped, so this chapter got to... 12000 words... Hahaha... It's bigger than Chapter 51 y u do dis, me ;_; And it was supposed to be _longer,_ according to my initial plans! Deep inside, I'm hoping that at least 500 words come from my Author's Notes... _Whatever the case!_

_**HERE IT IS: THE VARIA ARC!**_

... Its start, but whatever. This chapter is so full of action: I'm not even that good at action scenes, but it was necessary, so I wrote a whole lot of fighting. Oh, and if you had any doubts about this story's rating (T), you'll surely start agreeing with me now because of this chapter: all dat Squalo... Okay, I'll stop talking here and hide from Basil's fans who'll totally want to kill me because of this chapter ;_;** Like in Dino's chapter, the glossary will be in the Author's Notes instead of here!**

Ha-han - In the same way 'Nyuu' stuck around instead of 'Boo' or whatever, 'Ha-han' will stick around instead of 'O-ho'; both sound silly to me anyway ^^'

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Reborn didn't come along at the start because he went to the airport to wait for Tsuna's father and Dino to arrive. When they did, he had a little chat with them and went away. Dino also went to Tsuna's house for a while and talked to Tsuna's father, but he really wanted to visit Tsuna to so he went out. However, due to being chased around by fangirls, he arrived really late;**

**\- Speaking of fangirls, in Italy, Dino has a huge fanclub though most, if not all of the fangirls don't know he's actually in the mafia. The fangirls in Namimori that were after him were Hibari fans, but they temporarily converted to Dino fangirls: this phenomenon... has no name, but, it's a known thing within their community; more loyal fangirls pride themselves in not getting affected.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 59: From peace to conflict**

* * *

Ever since that meeting with His Divine Presence, my eyes were peeled for any danger, anything unusual: fun was not on my list of priorities at all. Besides, with an incident so near us, how was I ever going to think about having fun anyway? I had enough of that in the last few months I'd spent with everyone.

... So, when I had suddenly gotten a call from Yamamoto, asking me to skip classes and hang out, I found myself more than confused. "Uh... Are you really sure about this?" I asked, already in my uniform and ready to go to school.

"Well, it's only review day, right? So I figured it'd be nice for everyone to just relax for today," he explained cheerfully, making me imagine the smile that he was most likely wearing. "I wanted to invite the girls over too, but I only know your number." He chuckled carelessly. _Makes sense, I guess..._ "Could you call them over for me?"

I found myself still unsure of what to say. "Uh..." _Why relax now? Well, we've been having a pretty test-filled month, I guess... Maybe that's what he means?_ If that was the case, then I definitely did feel like relaxing: we had just done a Math test after two different subjects, and English was soon on its way to us; it was admittedly stressful. "Sure; I'll ask my mother about it. What's the meeting place?"

"Cool! How about the plaza, then?" he suggested, and while I felt like nodding, I didn't do it since it was a phone call. _This seems... normal. Strange._

_... I just contradicted myself._ "Alright," I said, looking outside through my room's window.

To my surprise, Tsuna, Gokudera and Yamamoto could be seen by my house's gates. _If you were already there, don't decide a meeting place!_ When Yamamoto noticed me staring, he waved at me with a grin, making me give him a blank gaze only to wave back at him awkwardly afterwards. "I'll... tell that to the girls." After all, if it wasn't a meeting place for me, it was certainly one for them... despite the fact that Haru lived close by.

Gokudera gave me an impatient look while Tsuna smiled nervously, having noticed me from Yamamoto's actions. "See ya!" I returned those words (in a more polite way) and hung up the phone, giving them a small smile. _Well, now to see if I can persuade mom... I hope dad's still around._

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

With the help of my father, I had gotten permission to skip class. Despite that, my mother shook her head in future regret for what could happen to me, not completely approving the idea: she seemed appreciative of the fact that I did warn her though, unlike that day in Kokuyo. Maybe that was what persuaded her, even if she did utter words like, "that better not become a habit of yours," and, "that group might actually be a bad influence on you."

Whatever the case, Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, Kyoko, Haru, Lambo and I-pin (Hana and Ryohei turned down the invitation) had all come together to hang out, and it was turning out more pleasant and normal than I thought possible. At least, in the standards I had for them, it was strange that they weren't acting strange, as... _strange_ as that sounded.

... Well, Lambo wasn't acting any differently though. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Tsuna was bowing for Lambo, apologizing for his wrongdoings. Lambo was simply staring off to a whole other location, making me pity Tsuna even more. _You shouldn't be the one apologizing in the first place..._

"You stupid cow, troubling the Tenth like that...!" Fortunately, Gokudera was taking care of that issue, albeit not in the best or effective of ways.

Yamamoto was smiling through all that, and chuckled at the sight of Gokudera and Lambo bickering. "Come on, let's all get along today," he said, almost as if acting like a mediator; he had a thing for doing that.

Tsuna sighed after apologizing and glanced at Kyoko, who I was talking to. Haru was only not with us because she had caught sight of Gokudera and Lambo, and decided to intervene. "Stop bullying Lambo-chan!" she shouted, frowning at Gokudera.

Due to that, instead of Gokudera and Lambo, it was now Gokudera and Haru bickering, so nothing much had changed. Tsuna stared blankly at them, while I-pin seemed to be scolding Lambo in her own way. "Trouble others is bad!"

He only stuck his tongue out at her, saying, "I didn't do any of that!" His words made I-pin angry and chase after Lambo, Lambo running just as fast while laughing; that chase didn't seem to have a perceivable end.

Both Kyoko and I were distracted by that sight, but Kyoko was the only one to giggle at it. "I'm glad I came along," she muttered, her smile genuine. I couldn't help but smile as well, seeing her that happy.

"Me too," I said while nodding, "Everything's really peaceful today." _Wait, isn't that kind of suspicious?_

... I decided to stop that train of thoughts, not wanting to ruin the day with the paranoia His Divine Presence had bestowed upon me. Her smile widened with my approving words. "I know, right? I wish Hana and Onii-chan were here too."

_Things would've certainly become more... _extreme_ with him around, but Hana wouldn't be so bad._ Even so, with the presence of Lambo and I-pin, it would probably be impossible for Hana to relax, so it would most likely backfire. "Hey," Kyoko uttered to get my attention.

She was looking at Tsuna, who seemed admittedly tired. "Tsuna-kun doesn't look so good. He did have to apologize to all sorts of people, so maybe he needs a break."

"Hmm... Maybe. How about over there?" I pointed at a location with a few tables and a vending machine nearby, figuring that would be the best place to settle down for a while.

_We did go to a whole lot of places, so I don't think anyone would complain if we decided to take a break._ "Good idea!" Kyoko said brightly before walking over to Tsuna, while I only slowly followed. _Okay, don't interrupt, don't say a word, do it for Tsuna..._ "Tsuna-kun!"

From Kyoko calling him, Tsuna immediately smiled. "K-Kyoko-chan...!" _The power of love never ceases to amaze me._ I stopped walking towards them, feeling like having me around wouldn't be good for the situation. "I'm sorry if this isn't going so well..."

Even so, I was within ear-shot of them, making me able to listen to the conversation. "Huh? That's not true, you don't need to apologize! I'm actually having a lot of fun today, so I'm glad you asked me to come," Kyoko said, though I couldn't discern her expression as she had her back turned to me. I assumed she had a small smile on her, since that was how I'd imagine her saying those last words. "But you looked tired so me and..."

"I never thought you'd be the type to eavesdrop." Distracting me from Kyoko's conversation with Tsuna was Reborn's squeaky voice, as he seemingly popped out of nowhere. "Ciaossu."

I turned to where it came from and looked down, seeing as he was that short. "Re-Reborn?! Since when were you here?" I reacted, finding it strange that he was also around. "And I'm only standing here because I thought it'd be strange if I got in between them."

"That still doesn't change the fact that you were eavesdropping."_ Damn you..._ I glared at Reborn, who seemed to be smirking. "I've just gotten here to check up on No-Good Tsuna, and it already looks like he's taking it easy. He'll have to make up for all the classes he skipped later."

... He was still smirking while talking about making Tsuna suffer, so I couldn't help but shudder. "I... I see. Well, I'll get going now, since I have to tell everyone to go over there," I awkwardly said while pointing to where Tsuna and Kyoko were walking towards, not wanting to continue this conversation.

Speaking with Reborn was not the most insufferable of experiences, but it was still something I didn't like, especially when I was seemingly alone with him; it made me feel on edge. After all, Reborn had clearly shown that he wanted to know about my Divine Circumstances, and I couldn't just tell him about that. _Ugh, now I'm getting reminded of the next thing I'll have to go through... Just relax, relax!_ "Suit yourself," he simply said, not particularly affected by my words.

He headed over to Tsuna and Kyoko, probably to ruin Tsuna's moment and tell him off. Lambo and I-pin were nearby, but they seemed to be in a better mood: a few birds were hovering around them, which made me think that maybe they were what stopped them. Since Lambo and I-pin were so close to Tsuna, I decided that there was no need to tell them anything, having already settled there on their own. With that, there were only three people left.

As I saw Haru pouting at Gokudera from a distance, Gokudera giving her a murderous glare and Yamamoto chuckling at that sight, I found myself sighing...

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

I had somehow been able to get everyone in the same spot (saying that it was for the Tenth's sake tended to work on Gokudera), and everyone had occupied two tables. To his chagrin, Gokudera was sitting next to Yamamoto and Haru, a consequence of them being the last ones to come over, while I was with Kyoko and Tsuna. Lambo and I-pin were running around happily, making us three stare at them.

They'd usually not get along very well since Lambo was a spoiled brat and I-pin wasn't, but there were also a bunch of times where they'd play together: it was a strange friendship, I guess. Reborn seemed to be standing on a vending machine for some reason, observing everything... in a _plant costume;_ no one decided to question the logic behind that.

Everything was calm, so I couldn't help but smile. _This is a nice change of pace..._ "You know," Kyoko started, "ever since that day in Kokuyo, I've been wanting to ask you this, but..." She was staring at me, which meant that she was referring to me; I merely gave her a confused look. "Where is that red-haired friend you had with you at that time?"

"Huh?" That was my immediate reaction as I tilted my head to the side, even more confused than before. _Red-haired... friend?_ "I'm sorry, I don't really get it..."

While I didn't understand, Tsuna did, somehow, as his expression seemed to indicate surprise. "Wait, you mean her bodyguard?" _My bodyguard?_

"That was her bodyguard?" Kyoko asked, seemingly curious. "I had no idea!"

_... My bodyguard?! As in, my Holy Protection? Zakuro?!_ "Y-y-yeah, he's something like that," I meekly answered, still in the middle of processing Kyoko's question. _Now that she's mentioning it, she did see me with Zakuro... Damned Byakuran._

"Wow, then you must be really rich!" Kyoko said in admiration. _Please don't misunderstand my financial circumstances...!_ While my family wasn't poor, we weren't very rich either: it was something in the middle of both ends; definitely not rich enough to bother hiring a bodyguard.

I shook my head in total denial. "That's not it at all! It's not like it's my family that, uh, hires them, it's... Well, someone else! So there's no need to think of it that way!"

"You did say they were hired for you..." Tsuna muttered, reminding himself of when he found out I had Holy Protection: it wasn't a very pleasant moment so Tsuna's eyes were cast on the table instead of looking up at us.

Kyoko seemed thoughtful for a bit, as if absorbing that information. "Oh, alright. It must be something complicated, so I won't ask about it anymore." She started smiling again and, thankfully, shifted her attention to Tsuna. _I almost thought I'd have to elaborate..._ "By the way, Tsuna-kun?"

Tsuna immediately looked up at her, looking surprised yet somewhat serious. _Seriously, this is amazing coming from Tsuna._ "W-what is it, Kyoko-chan? Is there something you want to ask me?" He was probably assuming that was the case due to Kyoko having asked me a question; I also assumed the same thing.

However, before Kyoko could speak up, the sound of an explosion coming from above was heard, completely crushing the moment Tsuna could have had and shocking us completely. "Huh?!" We all looked up to see not only smoke, but some figure falling from the sky. _Hey, isn't that falling in our direction...?_

I shrieked. The figure was undoubtedly human, and somewhat small; it wasn't an adult's. I took a few steps back after getting out of my seat, while Kyoko could only gasp from the sight she had taken in. I could hear Tsuna's, Lambo's and I-pin's screams as I saw it getting closer and closer to the table.

The person that was falling seemed to be a boy, as far as I could see. Tsuna and Kyoko retreated from their seats and the table in general, still as shocked as I was. _**"HIIIEE—?!"**_ Even so, that was not enough for Tsuna to avoid the boy, as he landed on the chair near Tsuna and Tsuna himself, making him fall to the ground as well.

"Hahii?! Tsuna-san?!" Haru had dashed over to us to check the situation, though the smoke made it slightly harder to see. She seemed agitated, panicked even, looking on at Tsuna in shock.

Meanwhile, Lambo and I-pin had run away, and Gokudera and Yamamoto were soon at the scene as well. "Tenth?!" Even Gokudera seemed panicked, probably because Tsuna was on the ground and some random boy had fallen on him. "Just what happened here?!"

"Tsuna!" Yamamoto shouted out in worry and surprise, which were all rare emotions from someone like him; the situation was that strange.

Tsuna seemed to still be conscious (it would've been scarier if he wasn't), but didn't move mostly because the boy was still on top of him, heavily injured. _What's going on...?!_ It had all been too sudden, so I was unable to properly make out the situation.

_**"VOOOI!"**_

Even so, with that very, very loud shout coming from the building that had just exploded, it was clear in my mind that I was doomed. _Is this...?!_ No matter how much I wanted to deny it, it was clear that His Divine Presence's warning was for this situation:

Whatever it was that Tsuna and everyone were going to face, it had started. "If you fought with me all night, there's no way you'd drop dead with just that!" From the smoke clearing, we could all see who exactly it was: in a dark leather uniform of sorts was a man with long silver hair; his expression just screamed 'bad guy'. "Or did you just feel like sleeping now, you fucking brat?!"

The boy squirmed, seemingly too weak to even stand, but somehow conscious. _You fell down from there and you can still move?! Why's everyone here so invincible?!_ I noticed that the boy had a flame on his forehead, as if he were in Dying Will Mode; however, the flame was blue._ A blue flame? Weird..._

The long-haired man was still standing on that building, grinning at us all. "And what about you, you pieces of trash?!" He pointed his sword at us as if it were his hand, making me flinch and jump back. _Wait, doesn't he have explosives too? He did blow up the building, right?!_ "If you're planning on getting in my way, I'll cut you all apart!" He raised his sword, that being my cue to run away.

I looked back to see Tsuna still on the ground with that boy, screaming for dear life as he saw the man swing it downwards, somehow creating a shockwave that could reach below to us. "Tsuna!" I shouted out, my eyes widening as I saw him being engulfed by the smoke that caused.

"Tenth!" However, it seemed like the boy could still move as, at the last minute, he stood up and pulled Tsuna out of there, grabbing on to his hand. I was glad for my fast reaction time (as I had run away beforehand), but also in fear of what that man could pull off next, as he had somehow been able to 'slash' us from afar.

_Who's this guy anyway?! What's going on?!_ "Are you alright, Tenth?!" Gokudera asked, running towards Tsuna. I looked around for Haru and Kyoko, who would have definitely reacted to whatever was happening, but was unable to find them; they were gone.

Not only that, but Reborn had also mysteriously disappeared, while Lambo and I-pin had somehow been able to escape on their own. _How did they...? I could buy that Kyoko set up an illusion for herself to escape, but not for everyone. Besides, she looked surprised..._ "He... He be safe, yo..." The boy muttered, his expression serious. _'Yo?'_

His right eye was covered by his blonde hair, and he did have a blue flame on his forehead. He was wielding some sort of strange merge between a knife and a boomerang, which I assumed was a weapon unique to him that would serve the purposes of both. He wasn't bleeding or anything, but it was obvious that he had sustained a lot of damage fighting that guy for apparently a whole night. "Tsuna..." Yamamoto stared at him in worry, and then looked up at the man with the sword, seemingly serious.

_Even _he's_ being serious... this isn't good. **"Voooii!"** _The man shouted, his voice ear-piercing. He jumped down from the building and approached us quickly, his sword still in... hand? Somehow, I was unable to see the hand grasping his sword, but decided not to think too hard about it; I had more important things to focus on. "I don't know what the hell this is all about but I'm going to get my answers from you, you invincible little shit!"

_This guy knows...!_ The boy glanced at the man, and then at Tsuna, only to start running yet again. "GTG! Quick, Sawada-san-sama!" We all stared at him confusedly, while Tsuna was practically forced to run along with him as he gazed at him blankly. _What sort of language does he think he's speaking?_

The man raised an eyebrow at his actions, as we all heard Tsuna's voice shouting, "Wait, what's going on?!" _That's honestly what I'd like to ask!_

"Hmph." The man narrowed his eyes, but when he was about to move forward, dynamite got in his way. "Vooi!" He swiftly jumped back, only to be bombarded by even more dynamite.

Gokudera was completely focused on the long-haired man, glaring at him murderously. "If you think you can lay a hand on him then you're damn wrong!" Gokudera had dynamite on his hands as well, almost as if ready to be lit up. "You're not going any further from here."

Despite Gokudera's words, the man had actually used the building to propel himself backwards, avoiding the explosions without being harmed. "Is that all you got? Fucking _dynamite?_ At least pick out a proper weapon, trash!" With a backflip in mid-air, he landed on the ground without any of the grace any other skilled person would have while doing that, scowling at Gokudera.

Before Gokudera could even light up his dynamite, or even say something for that matter, he was already on the verge of getting slashed by the man's sword. Gokudera had barely dodged that and, just as he was trying to regain his composure, the man lunged at him with a strong kick to his stomach, knocking him to the side with his arm. "If you thought I'd wait for you to do your stupid attack again, you're really fucking naive."

_This guy's... right...!_ It pained me to even think that, but there was no way around it: that man's words made perfect sense. "Gokudera!" Yamamoto shouted out, having watched it all happen with his own eyes. Gokudera was simply lying on the ground, unconscious; he wasn't going to stand up any time soon. "Well, it's my turn now!"

He seemed serious, but when he took out his bat, he said, "I don't know why this was in this area when I didn't bring it with me, but it sure came in handy!" He chuckled lightly as he said that, completely ruining the mood.

"Voooii! How about you read the fucking mood?!" _Why is the only guy who thinks the same way I do the evil one?!_ The long-haired man charged at Yamamoto before he could even turn serious, but Yamamoto was still able to parry the attack with his baseball bat.

... Which had turned into a sword, having most likely been swung it that fast. _Alright, we're all counting on you!_ The man, to my surprise, grinned at seeing it. "So that was actually a sword? Heh, and judging by that swing just now, you haven't learned a style yet!"

Yamamoto turned serious. "So?" He said as they locked eyes with each other. _Okay, this is pretty intense._

"So you're no match for me, trash!" As far as I could see, though I couldn't exactly believe it, parts of the man's sword had been shot forward and exploded right in Yamamoto's area as he quickly jumped back. _That's not how you use a sword, what kind of style is that?!_

_And here I thought you made sense!_ **"Yamamoto-san!"** I shouted out, panicked from the fact that the damage he sustained was definitely lethal in normal standards. _There's no way they can just... drop dead like this. Come on, you survived Lanchia!_ The smoke from those explosions made me unable to see Yamamoto or the long-haired man, scaring me further.

"And now... there's only you left." From the smoke, only the man came out. He was grinning, his silver eyes completely locked on to me, almost as if to check my non-existent strength. _I'm... next?_

I was shivering at the mere thought of confronting that long-haired guy, having just seen him knock out both of my friends as if it were nothing. _No way...! This guy's at a whole other level, I'm going to die!_ I felt bad for Yamamoto and Gokudera, but I found myself with no other choice: it was do or die, and I wasn't sure if he was as fast as Hibari.

_I gotta run!_ "Voooi, so you're not even gonna try?! You can't get more pathetic than that!" I ignored his words and didn't even turn back, not wanting to lose my full speed. Even if he was at a whole other level from everyone else, he didn't seem to be able to fly: there was a chance, albeit small, of me being able to outrun the guy.

I rushed towards where I saw the boy and Tsuna run off to, figuring they hadn't gone very far: I mean, with the mere minutes the man spent finishing Gokudera and Yamamoto off, it would be impossible to reach anywhere in particular. "Don't think you can actually get away from me!" _Don't turn back, don't turn back, don't turn back...!_ I chanted in my mind, still keeping my pace somehow.

From afar, I could see the boy, Tsuna and Reborn, seemingly talking about something before me interrupting them. "Tsuna!" I shouted but didn't dare to stop running. "Tsuna...! Help!" He turned to me in shock, almost as if he had seen a ghost. _He's right behind me, isn't he...? But don't turn back, don't do it!_

"Already?!" The boy exclaimed, his eyes narrowing. Whatever those three had been doing, it apparently hadn't lasted very long.

I couldn't even see my surroundings as I approached Tsuna, but that was probably what made me trip in the first place. **"Wah!"** I fell to the ground, having not watched what I was stepping on.

I heard Tsuna shout out my name in panic, but I didn't pay him any mind: as the man himself had said, I couldn't be naive enough to think he'd wait for me. I turned around and dragged myself backwards as quickly as I could, as he was about to stab me with that sword of his. The very short distance I was from the long-haired man put me in absolute fear, but I didn't want to give up either.

I gasped while I stood up, having noticed the hit that was coming for me. _No!_ "Stahp! Why you try to murk a grill like dat?!" _It's great that you're stopping him but what did you just say?_ Whatever the case, I stepped back, seeing the man glaring at me for a moment before focusing on the boy.

... I got to running to Tsuna's general area right after that, breathing a sigh of relief; I wasn't too close to his side, but not very far either. "Are you okay?!" Tsuna asked, looking very worried. "Reborn! Didn't you say you evacuated the women and children?!" _Wait, all of them got to leave except for me?!_

"Yeah, but she's an exception," Reborn simply explained, "since she won't die." _Oh, come on, just because I have Holy Protection doesn't mean that I don't fear anything!_

Actually, the fact that I had Holy Protection was already scary to begin with, as they weren't fully trustworthy. "Because of her bodyguards...?" Tsuna briefly questioned. "But wait, if you're the only one who returned then what about Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto?!"

I looked down at the ground with a pained gaze, not even wanting to face Tsuna. "They got done in by that guy; they didn't even stand a chance..." I muttered, tears threatening to fall from my eyes just thinking about it. However, I decided that was not worth it for the situation, and looked up at Tsuna again.

He seemed shocked with my information, which was completely understandable. "What...?!"

"It looks like you'll have some serious trouble ahead of you, Tsuna," Reborn remarked, actually serious. _No kidding!_

Just when I had thought the day was going to be peaceful, it turned into the fated day His Divine Presence had warned me about. "No way!" Tsuna protested, but I found myself more focused on the fight between the boy with the Dying Will Flame and the long-haired man.

"You just won't stay fucking down, will ya?!" While Gokudera and Yamamoto had been no match for the man, the boy seemed to still be holding his ground against him despite his injuries. All of the man's attacks had been swiftly blocked, making the outcome of the battle somewhat uncertain. "Seriously, you little shits have been watching too many shounen anime: do you think the world works that easy? In a real fight..."

With an upwards swing of his sword, the man was able to disarm the boy, catching him off guard. He kicked that weapon away and proceeded to strike the boy from behind with his elbow and kicking him towards a window, making it break on him; he was definitely not going to stand up after that.

"... There's no time to hold back, and no extra lives! So, no matter how many power-ups you pull out of your ass, you'll still lose like that shitty brat over there." He pointed to the window with his sword, almost as if showing what would happen to us from having gotten into this situation.

I would've shuddered from the sheer intimidating presence of that man, but I found myself with something else stuck in my mind. _Why bring up 'shounen anime'? Isn't that, like, One Piece or something? As in, anime from shounen manga? Just why would we be watching anime anyway? How does that tie in to anything that happened here?!_

The man's gaze was on me at first, making me snap out of my thoughts, but it then shifted to Tsuna, who he probably figured was a higher priority than the girl who just ran away. "Now that that's clear, I've decided to get information out of you instead." As strange as it was, it seemed like the man wasn't even sure of the situation himself: as far as he had stated, he had been fighting with the boy for a whole night before, and then he ran into us.

The only mystery was why the boy knew Tsuna, which was probably what he wanted information on. "Spit it out, trash! What's your relationship with that brat?!" The man questioned, glaring at him.

"Hiii!" I heard Tsuna utter in fear, but I could do nothing for him. I was also scared shitless of the long-haired man, especially since I had seen how powerful he was: it was the sort of strength level that didn't allow for any mistakes, and it was truly intimidating to me.

_Tsuna..._ I glanced at Reborn, who was still in his ridiculous outfit, as he stared at the man, and then at Tsuna. "Voooii, don't just piss your pants, answer my question! Otherwise, I'll—" The man interrupted himself when Tsuna had jumped back, being scared of the fact that he was approaching us.

"Ah!" That had accidentally made Tsuna drop something, and the man was staring at it rather intently. _What's wrong with that box?_

As far as I could tell, it looked like a small, fancy box with various symbols I didn't understand, except for the scriptures that read out, 'Vongola'. _Oh no, it's a mafia thing..._ "Voi, and what were you doing with that? If that brat gave them to you, you're definitely not some ordinary kid. If you don't answer all my questions and hand that over to me, I'll cut you down!"

Tsuna and I couldn't have been more scared of the man's words, and he undoubtedly was serious with that threat. _Did he want that thing all along? And what does he mean, 'them'? The contents of the box? Whatever, we gotta hand it over to this guy!_ "No can do," Reborn answered, making Tsuna and I look at him incredulously. _This baby seriously wants us to die!_

Reborn turned his chameleon into a gun and pointed it at Tsuna, making me know where this was going. _Oh, yeah! If he's in Dying Will Mode, he'll kick ass!_ "So die, Tsuna." Before Tsuna could move, Tsuna had already gotten shot with the bullet, making me step back, not wanting anything to happen to me.

**"Reborn...!"** His calm self had come forth as always, and immediately got to grabbing the man's arm before he could attack. **"I'll defeat you with my Dying Will."**

The man, probably due to the fact that someone was able to stop him in some way, was slightly surprised at first, only to then shake Tsuna's hand off of him easily. "Vooi..." He grinned. "Just when I fucking told you that power-ups were worthless, you go and use one?! You've got some guts right there!" He swung his sword at Tsuna, but failed at actually hitting him; things were looking slightly better than before. _Yeah, shut up, power-ups are amazing!_

Even so, the man simply stepped to the side to dodge Tsuna's punch and grabbed Tsuna's arm, throwing him off balance. **"Ugh..."** As Tsuna was about to fall, the man kneed him on his left side, only to shoot more of those little explosives at him and jumping back.

"Tsuna!" I shouted, having nothing more to do beyond watching him get thrashed by the overwhelmingly strong man: it almost made me wonder if my Holy Protection could go against someone as powerful as that.

To my surprise and relief, Tsuna seemed to still be standing, probably due to the fact that he was in his Dying Will Mode. "Tsuna," Reborn called as he threw something at him. Whatever it was, Tsuna was able to catch it fast, even within the smoke that surged from the explosions: I had assumed that because I didn't hear the sound of it falling to the ground.

"What did you do?" I asked Reborn, anxious about what would happen next.

The smoke was already beginning to disperse, which would make Tsuna less than safe. "I just threw his gloves at him; he looked like he needed them." Reborn's response only made me feel more anxious, as it meant that Tsuna was in such a terrible situation that he couldn't have afforded to be careless enough not to wear his mittens.

When he was visible, he already had the gloves on, looking as cool as always. "Hah, is that supposed to do anything against me?!" The man, after saying that, took a closer look, and narrowed his eyes. "Voi, could it be...?"

Taking advantage of the man's lack of attention, Tsuna charged, his eyes determined. Even so, the man wasn't distracted enough. "Nice try, trash!" He dodged Tsuna's hit and sent him flying by the shockwave he formed with the sword. "No wonder that brat knew you: he came all the way here to see you!" Tsuna hit the wall, and the flames on his forehead extinguished. "But you're not going to get what's in that box, you're handing that over to me!"

**"H-Hey!"** I shouted, hoping to get the man's attention. I noticed Tsuna had grabbed the box that was slightly far from him, looking more than nervous about it, but I paid that no mind and focused on the man. _Wait, what am I doing? Do I have a death wish?!_

Even so, I couldn't let it go on any longer: the man seemed like he was going to kill Tsuna, and I didn't want that to happen. I didn't want to see them suffer for no reason and, really, what else could handle him?

... Angels, of course. "What?!" His voice alone made me tremble, but I tried to keep my composure. "Does it look like I have any business with you right now?! If you want to get in my way, I'll cut you apart!" He pointed his sword to me, and while I did shiver at seeing it, I moved in between Tsuna and the man anyway. _I'm so dead if no Holy Protection shows up...!_

I could cry, but that wouldn't help my situation. "Voi, it looks like ya really want to die..." He glared straight at me, almost as if seeing through my fear: it was very, _very_ scary, but I didn't move from my position. "Well then, wish granted!"

_**"N-NO!"**_ I heard Tsuna shout as my eyes widened at the sight of that sword getting closer and closer to me, as if in slow motion. Was that how death worked?

I whimpered and took one step back, but that didn't make any difference: the sword was still coming at me, with the same fast speed as before. "Ah..." _Why... am I so stupid? I knew they were unreliable, and yet I..._ Tears were forming in my eyes, and they were sure to fall down my face soon enough; I couldn't contain them.

"W-what...?!" From the surprised tone of the man that was supposedly about to take my life, I wiped the tears I had in my eyes with my hands so as to actually see what was happening. What I had seen completely shocked me:

The sword was mere centimeters away from me but it was being bound by plants, making the man unable to move it further. "Ha-han? Could it be that my appearance had been expected at an earlier time? If so, I do have to apologize for that; it seems I made you worry needlessly."

I turned around, only to find a tall man with mint-colored, somewhat long, tied hair and eyes of the same color; he also had equally green-ish eyeshadow, an admittedly strange choice for a man. He was wearing a long black coat, one I had gotten used to seeing whenever I was in danger._ My Holy Protection...!_

"Hmph, so someone did come," I heard Reborn mutter, but didn't care as I had other things I wanted to focus on for the time being.

I sighed in absolute relief; I was alive! I wanted to distance myself from the sword, but my Holy Protection was in the way. _So much for my peace of mind there..._ He looked down at me with a confident smile, something that I was also used to seeing in my Holy Protection, but his was somehow different: it indicated... composure, which was something Bluebell and Zakuro definitely lacked. "You'd best back away for now: while it would make no difference to me, it would surely put you at ease."

He even stepped aside so as to make it easier for me to get away. _Wow, he's... being considerate._ I did exactly as he said and walked over to Tsuna, who seemed quite stunned at the sudden turn of events. "W-why did you go in between us?! Even if you have bodyguards, that doesn't mean you'll be safe! What if you got hurt?"

"I didn't want you to get hurt either," I responded, looking to the side so as to not face Tsuna. From my words, Tsuna only muttered my name, which made me glance at him.

He seemed to be looking down at the ground, as if regretting his words. "Sorry, I didn't want to disregard your feelings..."

"It's alright; what I did was totally risky anyway," I said while sitting next to him on the ground, "I'm actually happy that you were worried." We both were able to smile for a while, but, getting reminded of our situation, it didn't last long.

We could see the man trying to cut through the plants, but not being able to: they seemed to grow at an even faster rate the more he cut them down with his blade. **"Vooooii!** Who are you?! You're with that brat, aren't you?!" The man questioned, clearly furious at his current situation.

His glare towards both my Holy Protection and I was murderous, and it made me cower even more to Tsuna's side, away from the battle. Reborn only seemed to be observing, his expression indiscernible beyond the fact that it was fairly serious. "'That brat'? I don't recall having any comrade of that sort." _Smooth...!_ And also flattering, which was surprising me in all ways.

"Voooii, don't play dumb with me! If you went out of your way to somehow teleport yourself over here to protect some girl, then she's definitely no ordinary trash either! I'll have you tell me all you know too!" The man shouted, somehow still confident despite having his sword restrained.

A strange thing about that was the fact that the man didn't just let go of the sword and escape, instead acting like he was trapped as well when the plants only barely reached his arm: it was as if he was glued to his sword. "If you truly think you could do that, then do try: however, I doubt you could even reach me in that state." My Holy Protection showed no signs of hesitation from his words, still keeping a very composed smile: from the way he would act, he exuded elegance, but that was not all; he seemed actually reliable.

He glanced at me as if to reassure me further, which only made me stare at my Holy Protection in a perplexed manner. _This guy is _way_ different from the Holy Protection I've come to know..._ "Voi... Don't get in over your head just because you've gotten me with your plant bullshit," the man muttered, his gaze alone able to scare anyone off. His arm seemed to be shaking, but not out of fear; it was out of anger. "Because I'm not weak enough for that to work on me!"

He seemingly used the explosives in his sword to blow up the plants all at once, somehow being fast enough to get away from the area without sustaining too much damage; that man's strength was frightening. He did a backflip when he noticed the plants coming at him so as to restrain him again and parried a strike from a sudden tonfa behind him, making both Tsuna and I notice Hibari's presence in the area. **"And who the fuck are you?!"**

Hibari narrowed his eyes, and stated, "That's none of your business. For disrupting the peace in Namimori, I'll bite you to death...!" He was hovering in the air as he retracted his tonfa and tried to hit the man again, only to be blocked. The man merely turned around to lock eyes with Hibari, grinning at him.

"'Disrupting the peace'? Voi, trying to be a super hero of all things now? If so, aren't you a little too late, you piece of trash?!" They exchanged a few blows after the man's words, none having actually connected. _Actually, yeah, isn't Hibari a bit too late to all this?_

The fact that the loud guy who tried to kill me was the only one asking these questions only served to make me slightly depressed. "Hibari-san came...!" Tsuna muttered, feeling more relieved. "Maybe we'll have chances of stopping him now!"

"He could've come sooner though," I said, staring at the fight between the man and Hibari. I noticed that my Holy Protection didn't do anything after it started (having even retracted the plants originally coming for the long-haired man), most likely due to the fact that it no longer involved me. "It would've saved us a lot of trouble."

I reminded myself of Gokudera and Yamamoto, who had been mercilessly knocked down by that man. "Actually, since he was the one that took care of evacuating the people, he couldn't have come over," Reborn explained, gazing at Hibari's serious expression as he tried to get any sort of advantage over the man so as to defeat him.

"Hibari-san did that?!" Tsuna reacted, seemingly surprised that Hibari would ever do such a thing._ I guess he is a super hero, but I don't imagine him helping people out..._ He had probably only done that for the sake of his super hero duties, leaving the people in a random spot or something like that.

Speaking of that, there truly was a lack of people passing by this public area: I guess it was understandable for Hibari to have been busy if he did something like that. _Wait, shouldn't the police be doing that, or at least helping out? Actually, have I ever even seen the police in this town before...?!_ The fact that I didn't was making me feel disturbed, so I decided to ignore those thoughts altogether. "Yup," Reborn answered, "so I'm sure you can guess he's itching for a fight right now."

Being the bloodthirsty super hero that he was, it did make sense for him to want to bite something to death after doing that: helping others would always seem to be the last thing on his list of priorities. "Ha-han, it seems like the situation has been taken care of for me; how convenient," my Holy Protection said as he approached us (Tsuna and I), looking even taller in our perspective since we were sitting down.

Tsuna couldn't even face him, uncomfortable in his presence. I didn't say anything either, finding no words fitting of the mood to utter. "Now that you've protected her, aren't you going to disappear?" Reborn questioned, making my Holy Protection look towards him with the same composed smile.

"I will only 'disappear' if I accomplish all that I've been sent out for," he answered, "and, as you can see, I am still here." _What else does he have to do?_ His words had been vague, so Reborn was probably not very satisfied with them. "Wasn't that the case for all my comrades that have appeared so far?"

_Then Bluebell accomplished everything she was sent out for while she was fighting that one girl?!_ Maybe that had been an exception, as she did seem serious about killing that girl with the clarinet and that was apparently against the rules (of not killing anyone). "Hmph," Reborn only uttered, seemingly not that affected by my Holy Protection's response (he was most likely expecting it to be that vague), turning to the battle between Hibari and that man that was still going on.

My Holy Protection focused on me again, making me stare at him warily. "You may be confused, but do not worry: I will explain all you need to know at a more opportune time." My eyes widened, His Divine Presence's words ringing in my mind:

_"After all, I'm not going to be the one telling you what you need to know this time..."_

"Wait, you mean...?" Before any other words could come out of my mouth, I picked up on familiar sounds. They were high-pitched, and came from many sources...

... They were squeals, I noted, my face turning pale as I shrunk backwards into my spot next to Tsuna out of fear._ Not the fangirls...!_ "Ha-han? What could this be?" My Holy Protection turned around, while I could already see numerous female figures. "Ah, I see..." _You know about them?!_

"_Arrêtez-vous_...!" In front of the swarm of fangirls was Dino of all people, spouting words I didn't understand like always. His subordinates were next to him, some making sure the fangirls wouldn't invade his personal space. "If you don't, I might just have to step in." The man and Hibari stopped their fight to look at him, not very pleased with his presence.

Meanwhile, the girls all squealed at Dino's words, finding them cool or something of the sort. _Weren't they all Hibari fangirls though?_ Maybe they liked both? Whatever the case, it wasn't something I was supposed to be concerned with. "Hmph, the annoyances came," Hibari muttered, narrowing his eyes at Dino, his subordinates and the fangirls.

"Bucking Bronco Dino...?! What the hell are you doing here?!" The man pointed his sword at Dino as he spoke, glaring at him._ Bucking Bronco? What kind of title is that? More importantly, if this guy knows Dino, he's probably from the mafia too... not that it wasn't obvious already._

What else would cause Tsuna trouble but the mafia? "And vooii, what's up with all those girls?! Can't keep your fanclub in check?!" _No one can keep fangirls in check!_ The fangirls didn't seem to mind the man saying that, as they instead seemed ecstatic at the situation in general: was it because three handsome men (Dino being the only one I could ever consider that) were gathered in one place?

"That's... another thing," Dino answered awkwardly. _I'm starting to feel bad for you..._ Someone like him probably had mountains of fangirls, so his reaction was understandable. "_De toute façon,_ I won't let you do as you please, Squalo Superbi." He took out his whip so as to prove how serious he was about that, though he was smirking confidently. "So I'd advise you to leave, unless you're even willing to break a Family Alliance over this."

_Squalo? That guy's name?_ It was, of course, a foreign name, as he was from the mafia; he was probably Italian. _But wait, how would that guy break an alliance over fighting Dino? Is he from a family allied to his?_ "And who gave you the authority to break up this fight? I'm not letting him get away until I bite him to death," Hibari stated, brandishing his tonfas.

... Naturally, Hibari's actions confused Dino, as his logic was not something most people could understand. "Uh... _Pardon_?" Dino scratched his head, seemingly troubled. _That's Hibari for you._ "You want to keep fighting...?"

"Exactly," Hibari said, "so if you get in my way, I'll bite you to death too." Hibari didn't even seem to be questioning Dino's French words, but I assumed that was because he didn't care. "Now stop crowding around this area and leave."

Tsuna and I glanced blankly at each other, as if our feelings towards the situation were the same. _Hibari's ruining everything...!_ "Voi, what are you deciding everything for, you brat?!" Squalo shouted while swinging his sword downwards at Hibari, a hit that was promtply blocked by one of his tonfas. "I'm only bothering with you because you look stronger than the others, but even then...!"

Fangirls gasped as Squalo was able to disarm Hibari by the sheer force of him pressing his sword to the side, pushing his tonfa off his hand. Hibari looked visibly surprised, something that anyone would rarely see from the powerful super hero, and had his eyes focused on the falling tonfa, attempting to quickly grab it to make up for his lowered guard. **"You're not even worth talking about!"** Squalo completed his sentence while jumping back and slashing the air so as to make that shockwave that had initially been about to kill Tsuna and the mysterious boy.

"Even Hibari-san can't fight him?!" Tsuna exclaimed incredulously, as shocked as I was. I mean, I had seen him getting his ass kicked before, but that had only happened because Mukuro had figured out his weakness! In Squalo's case, it just seemed like he was that skilled, and was able to throw Hibari off guard.

The fangirls let out even more surprised sounds as Squalo's attack had made smoke that would not allow us to see what was going on properly. _This is really bad, how are we ever going to stop this guy...?_ I glanced at my Holy Protection, and noticed him narrowing his eyes.

... Before I knew it, I was being held and taken away from the area by him, as Squalo had rushed to Tsuna. "What?!" I uttered, shocked at the sudden turn of events: I hadn't noticed Squalo moving towards us at all! _**"Watch out, Tsuna!"**_

I tried to break free from my Holy Protection's grasp so as to reach Tsuna, to help him in some way, but failed due to my lack of strength in comparison to his. "Let's not be too reckless," he calmly said, "though I understand your reasons for wanting to step in, doing such a thing would only result in you getting hurt; you cannot go against that man."

_He's got a point, but...!_ I faced the ground as I realized how I was about to doom myself for no reason, being too weak to change anything: I hadn't thought of that when I was about to go Tsuna's side; it was an impulse. Hearing Tsuna scream in pain, my head snapped upwards to see what was happening.

Squalo had grabbed and lifted Tsuna by his hair, grinning at him. Meanwhile, he was also blocking Hibari with his sword, said super hero having somehow survived Squalo's attack without much injury. Hibari was smirking as he said, "Wow... it looks like I'll be able to get serious with you." He seemed thoroughly amused, his eyes fixated on Squalo. _Seriously, are you even supposed to be a super hero?_

"Let Tsuna go...!" Dino exclaimed as he dashed over to the scene and swung his whip towards Squalo and, consequently, Hibari as well. Both had been able to dodge that (which didn't surprise me), as Squalo dropped Tsuna to the ground, only to then take something from him before stepping to the side so as to not get hit by Hibari.

_Wait, that's the box...!_ Squalo stuffed it somewhere inside his uniform's jacket and grinned triumphantly at Dino. "As soft as always! Makes me wonder how you're even in the mafia!"_ Stop making good points, damn it!_ After all, the mafia was supposed to be... _bad,_ but Dino did not at all seem like a bad or even strict person. "It would be pretty easy to take care of you, but since I've got what I wanted, I guess I'll do you a favor and leave! I've got anime to watch anyway!"

_Why does that matter? And what kind of mafia guy watches cartoons, huh?! How about pointing that out about yourself?!_ Whatever the case, Squalo had decided to leave, which was a very good turn of events for everyone else in the area.

... Well, except for Hibari. "Who said you could leave?" As Squalo had jumped up to the top of a building (with what I could only assume to be mafia magic), Hibari had flown over to his location to keep the fight going. I couldn't help but stare up at that blankly, imagining Squalo trying to get rid of Hibari so as to not get chased any further.

"Vooooi, I do whatever I want, trash! I sure as hell don't need permission from you!" That could be heard in the distance, as they seemed to be on the move; they weren't in my line of sight anymore. Noticing that I was no longer getting locked in place by my Holy Protection, I ran over to Tsuna, a worried expression on my face.

Dino stored his whip somewhere (I didn't pay much attention to that) and stretched his hand out to Tsuna with a kind smile. "Can you stand?" he asked, while Tsuna scratched his head and groaned in pain, looking troubled. "_Désolé,_ if I'd arrived sooner, you wouldn't have had to go through all this."

Tsuna took Dino's hand and was pulled up by him. "What was that all about?" Tsuna asked, and turned to Reborn, who was still near us. "Why didn't you do anything, Reborn...?!" Tsuna's anger at such a thing was understandable, but it wasn't very surprising to me that Reborn didn't do anything: he had merely watched on that day in Kokuyo as well.

"I couldn't," Reborn simply answered, "I'm not allowed to harm members of the Vongola." Both Tsuna and I were shocked at the revelation Reborn had let out so easily.

_What?_ "Wait, that guy was from the Vongola?! Why would someone from the Vongola want to kill me?! What's going on?!" Tsuna reacted, seemingly panicked. I completely understood why he would feel such a way, seeing as he was supposedly the next boss of the Vongola and yet, he was being attacked by members of that family.

That would've certainly scared me, if I were in that position. Before anyone could answer Tsuna's questions, one of Dino's subordinates came over and said, "Boss, it's becoming increasingly difficult to hold back those fangirls; we'd best leave immediately." Tsuna and I stared blankly at the fangirls, having completely forgotten their existence for a while.

They seemed more agitated than before, seemingly wanting to move towards our area for some reason. "Ah, _oui,_ we should," Dino hastily responded, having also noticed the girls. "We'll talk about this later, Tsuna." Dino smiled at him and started walking off, only for me to remind myself of something important.

"W-wait!" I exclaimed, making him turn around while looking somewhat surprised. "Gokudera-san and Yamamoto-san, they're badly injured! Can't you help them in some way?" It wasn't that I had forgotten about their condition, it was that I had forgotten someone like Dino could help with that situation; he was a mafia boss, after all.

Everyone's expressions grew serious at my words, as Dino muttered, "You're..." He seemed to find my presence in the area strange, most likely due to my lack of direct involvement in anything related to the mafia. "It must've been hard to see all this." He gave me a weak smile in an attempt to make me feel better. _I didn't just 'see' all of this, I was almost going to die!_ "Anyway, you said they were injured,_ d'accord_? Then, Romario, I'll leave that to you and the rest of my men. The fangirls' target is me, so I'll be the bait and get them away from here."

_Woah, are you suicidal? I mean, they wouldn't kill you but being the bait for fangirls is obviously something no one should be doing!_ "D-Dino-san, are you sure?" Tsuna asked, seemingly worried about what would happen to him if he were to do such a thing. _I feel _really_ bad for you now..._ If Dino even had the courage to form such plans, he was definitely used to fangirls, which would really surprise no one.

"... _Non,_ but sometimes, Tsuna, sacrifices must be made to save your subordinates." Dino put his hand on Tsuna's shoulder, his gaze... not at all suggesting resolve, but it surely was dramatic. He seemed more awkward than anything, smiling nervously. "Well, I'll be off then."

_He is a brave man,_ I remarked in my mind while nodding in a serious manner. "Dino-san... He sacrificed himself just now, didn't he?" Tsuna said as he stared blankly at Dino as he went, most likely finding the situation ridiculous.

"Oh well, just let the idiot be an idiot." Reborn shrugged, as if uncaring of Dino's well-being. "Anyway, we should go to Gokudera and Yamamoto's location; you'll guide us there, right?"

I sighed. "Yes," I said, staring nervously at Dino's subordinate, Romario or so Dino called him, as I took a step forward.

After that, I stopped moving and looked behind me. To my surprise, my Holy Protection hadn't disappeared: he was merely keeping quiet as he calmly observed me, and smiled at me when he noticed my gaze. _This guy feels way too much like an actual angel for my peace of mind._ I never thought I'd... _think_ that, but it was true.

I had gotten far too used to bloodthirsty, lazy angels to accept this one so readily: was he going to do something terrible while I wasn't looking or something of the sort? I saw Dino's subordinates, who were holding off the fangirls before, move over to our area, which prompted me to say, "Um, follow me when they all gather. It'll be easier to carry them all off that way."

Romario nodded, smiling at me reassuringly: had he picked up on the fact that I was nervous around him? Well, it was perfectly justifiable for me to feel that way, seeing as they were very mafia-like. "I've heard about you from Boss," he said. _You did?_ I gave him a perplexed look, unsure of what to make of that. "He seemed to be wondering how to make you agree to become his apprentice, or something along those lines..."

"I-I see," I immediately uttered, looking more uptight than usual. _Damn it, he didn't forget about that!_ Tsuna had picked up on this, staring at me awkwardly as he was most likely reminding himself of the first time I'd seen Dino: it wasn't very pleasant, especially when I had just used Tsuna's room to study Math with Ryohei of all people.

... A box of roll cakes with an apology letter had been delivered to him the next day, to which he had thanked me for. He had also told me that I went overboard but I didn't agree so I just let it slide. "Ah, they're all here," Tsuna pointed out. "We should go now! I'm worried about Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto..." His eyes were downcast as he said that, seemingly saddened at the prospect that they had been terribly injured.

"Yeah," I said, and meekly gestured Romario to follow me. He seemed to have gotten the idea as he had then told that to his men, making them all simultaneously focus on me.

It was scary,_ really_ scary. My hands trembled as I walked over to where everyone had been before, Tsuna, Reborn and my Holy Protection also following along with Dino's subordinates. Tsuna gave my Holy Protection a nervous glance, only for him to notice it and smile at him in return. "Ha-han?" Tsuna flinched and looked to the opposite side as if he hadn't done anything in particular, seemingly scared. _Awkward..._

We all arrived at the location fast, as it wasn't far at all from where we previously were. "Gokudera-kun! Yamamoto!" Tsuna shouted, seeing them struggling to stand up, but still very much alive.

"Tenth...! Are you alright?!" Despite seemingly having struggled, he immediately stood up straight for the sake of his Tenth, though it did look somewhat painful. "That bastard hasn't harmed you in any way, has he? I'll make him pay!"

Tsuna dashed over to them, being that worried. "You should be worried about yourself! You got done in by him, right? Then you've got to get treated somewhere!" Tsuna said, looking somewhat agitated. I sighed in relief, seeing both of them alright._ I guess I shouldn't have had doubts in the first place..._

They _did_ survive through that day in Kokuyo, after all; I need to stress that further so as to believe such miracles. "Tenth..." Gokudera muttered, displeased that he worried his Tenth and moved by his words at the same time. "Your kindness truly knows no bounds! But there's no need to worry about me: as you can see, I'm perfectly fine!" He was grinning (only at his Tenth), but otherwise, he didn't look alright at all.

"Where do you think that guy with the sword went?" Yamamoto simply asked, already up as well, looking around. "Is he still in this area?" _What, you're planning on taking him on again...?!_

It was obvious that Squalo was way too strong for them, so it was actually pitiful that they were saying such things as if they had a chance. It made me worried as well, not wanting to see them get any more hurt than they were. "You shouldn't follow him: you guys wouldn't even be able to put a scratch on his face as you are," Reborn flat out said what I was thinking without hesitation, truly getting his point across.

Yamamoto and Gokudera had the same expression on their faces when they heard that: it was a mix of frustration, disappointment and realization. They probably knew that it was hopeless already, but didn't want to acknowledge it. "Besides, Hibari's dealing with him right now, so you'd end up beaten up by him before even getting to that guy; just give up and get yourselves patched up already," Reborn added.

"He is?" Yamamoto uttered, somewhat surprised. "I guess he's doing his job." Yamamoto gave us a weak smile, which definitely meant that he was still affected by the fact that he was not strong enough to beat Squalo. "Well, I'll have to go with these guys then, right?" He looked towards Dino's subordinates as if they were regular people, and they simply nodded in response.

Gokudera scowled at the mention of Hibari. "That super hero bastard... Where the hell was he when the Tenth was in danger?" he muttered, unaware that Hibari was actually saving lives (something unimaginable coming from a super hero like Hibari) while we were getting our asses kicked. Unlike Yamamoto, Gokudera only glared at Dino's subordinates before slowly stepping towards them, clearly not wanting to go anywhere with them. "I'll see you later, Tenth."

With that, the crowd composed of Dino's subordinates, Yamamoto and Gokudera had left. Tsuna, Reborn and I stared on as they did so, seeing two of Dino's men supporting Yamamoto while two other only attempted to do so before Gokudera got visibly (and very audibly too) mad at them. "Why did you have to say that to them?" Tsuna asked, frowning.

"What, did you want them to go lose against that guy again? You must've also noticed how frustrated they were: who can blame them? No one wouldn't feel the same after such a one-sided fight," Reborn answered, still looking at where Yamamoto, Gokudera and Dino's subordinates had gone to. Although I never did get into fights, I could understand what Reborn had meant: the feeling of completely losing to someone, as if that person was a whole other level, was not at all a pleasant one.

Tsuna's eyes were downcast as he gave that some thought, probably knowing that Reborn was right. "Anyway, let's go, Tsuna," Reborn said as his... chameleon thing suddenly turned into a rope that wrapped itself around Tsuna.

"W-wha— Reborn...!" He seemed so surprised that it probably took him a while to process that he was tied by green rope. Reborn paid him no mind and simply started walking off, his destination unknown to me. Tsuna, being dragged off, had no choice but to walk behind him, something that he was definitely not satisfied with. "Seriously, wait, Reborn! Why...?!"

He glanced at me with an expression that completely conveyed the words, 'help me,' making me simply gaze on in pity. I waved at him awkwardly, unsure of what else to do. "See you later, I guess," I said, attempting to smile.

That seemed to backfire, making Tsuna feel even worse as I wasn't helping him in the slightest. _Sorry..._ "Se-see you later..." Even so, he decided to say goodbye as well, which made me feel considerably better; my smile was no longer forced. Maybe, because of that, Tsuna also had a small smile on his face before getting kicked in the face by Reborn, making me immediately grimace.

_You really have it rough..._ I thought as I saw Reborn telling Tsuna something, but with the distance, I was unable to hear it. I imagined what sort of argument they'd be having as I kept staring at them until they became simple blurry figures, unsure of what to do after all that had already happened.

**. . .**

**. . .**

... I noticed that I was alone with my Holy Protection. "Uh..." It was already bad that I had forgotten his presence, but, in my defense, the events I had to see took a bit of a mental toll on me: I was undoubtedly tired.

Even so, it was also true that I wanted explanations from him, so I couldn't say anything against him either. "Ha-han?" He walked over to my side, and I couldn't help but sigh. _This is going to be a long day..._

* * *

**Author's Notes:  
**

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**Dino Glossary:**

Arrêtez-vous - Stop (referring to both Hibari and Squalo)

De tout façon - Anyway

Pardon - Also an English word, but translates to 'excuse me' or something of the sort

Désolé - Sorry

Oui - Everyone knows this one, and it means 'yes'

D'accord - Right, correct, something along those lines

Non- Everyone also knows this one, and it means 'no'

**Basil Glossary:**

GTG - Got to go

Stahp - Stop, in case you didn't guess

Murk - Murder kill

Grill - Girl, in the most meme-tastic way possible

You know this story is getting out of hand when I actually need two glossaries XD Please tell me if I have something wrong! Honestly, I love Dino, but it's such hard work to write in his French lines: my French is terrible, so I can't put in short sentences. Like, I even have a French textbook lying around but it's practically useless because it won't give me a proper revision of the basic stuff: for example, I wanna know about the interrogative form, and the book claims it has revisions, but they're only exercises without any summary of the subject I'm supposed to re-learn! How am I supposed to do revisions if you don't tell me anything, argh!

... With that in mind, I'll have Spanish classes instead of French next year ^^' Also, all Basil fans probably want to kill me for what I did: like, I could've at least had the decency to just make him sound like a valley girl with a ton of slang for it to be the polar opposite of his old form of Japanese he learned somewhere, but I made him sound like a mix between memes and chat-speak instead XDD His grammar and honorifics are also terribly wrong, so yeah, this Basil sucks at Japanese... just like how I suck at French (I feel you, Basil!).

Kikyo also showed up as Observer-chan's Holy Protection! Hopefully you were able to guess it was him (all dat ha-han)! Due to the plans I have for this arc, I don't really know what I'll do with Daisy since he's the only one I haven't shown yet: I like all the Funeral Wreaths, so I want them all to show up before the Future arc! I guess I'll just go with the flow and think about it later. Speaking of Kikyo, he was way harder than I thought: I mean, I had his personality down pat, but even then, I found myself unsure of what exactly he'd say. Kikyo is a tricky bastard: unlike Bluebell and Zakuro, who make it clear they're hard to write, Kikyo likes to make you think he's easy... this actually fits him lol.

Haha, dat moment when Tsuna glances at Kikyo and he goes like, "Ha-han?" which makes Tsuna get scared and look the other way XD Kikyo's so composed that he makes Observer-chan uncomfortable, especially because, unlike Zakuro and Bluebell, Kikyo's more 'angel-like'. Even so, we all know that whatever consideration he has for Observer-chan is simply for his Byakuran-sama's sake; he's not as lazy as Zakuro and doesn't have any sort of grudge against her like Bluebell (you know, since Observer-chan had Byakuran's attention for unknown reasons and she didn't like that) either.

Also, all of Dino's dialogue in this chapter. All of it. I laughed, I just felt sorry for the guy. The great part about Dino is that he is really cool and awkward at the same time, so he can be used for a nice variety of jokes XD And, of course, Squalo! Voooii, how could I ever forget that guy?! He's, like, the center piece of the chapter! I loved making him talk in this chapter, and he's so badass: I think I made him a bit OP... But hey, Kikyo wasn't being serious with his plant stuff, and I imagine Hibari became stronger after Dino's training, making him then able to go against the Varia; so yeah, that's why Squalo's amazingly powerful now!

With all that, you may be wondering about what I did to him: well, you probably already noticed, since I did mention anime. However, I won't tell you anyway because that part of him was pretty weak in this chapter: even so, you also noticed that he'd point out a lot of stuff too; this is a consequence of the change I made to him. Squalo became way more attentive to detail and things that aren't cool or make no sense: this was on purpose ^^ But lol what have I done, I made Hibari want to fight Squalo, this isn't supposed to be a thing. Like, just imagining the duo that would be Hibari and Squalo is amazing... and hilarious, sorry, Yamamoto!

Hibari kind of felt like he was in everyone's way though, and I find that amusing because he really was XD Even so, I had no choice because, according to this story's cannon, Hibari shows up when the peace of Namimori is being disturbed! Basically, it would've been a plot hole if he didn't show up. Dino didn't know Hibari at that time because he wasn't told to train Hibari yet; he'll sure be surprised after he finds out ^^ Anyway, I ended this chapter on a strange cliffhanger because I felt like the chapter was already really overwhelming as it is, so adding more to it would tire you out. I mean, it was a really long and intense chapter so, you know, it makes sense to me.

Basically, you'll get Kikyo's explanations and more on the next chapter! Look forward to that?


	66. Chapter 60

**First Words:**

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**L's Cappuccino - Yes! Making Basil talk was... _interesting,_ to say the least; I don't even know how I'm still alive (I thought I'd have been killed by Basil fans already). Honestly, as lazy as this will make me sound, one of the main reasons I made Basil talk differently from how he does in cannon is because I'm not very familiar with old English ^^' And wow, omg, you practically guessed my _initial_ plans for the Holy Protection (nice abbreviation by the way) in this chapter, just how do you do that? 0.0**

**Collegegirl - Oh my, welcome back! And you left reviews for each chapter too omg thank you ;_; I mean, you haven't even read chapter 59 yet but I'll be answering on this chapter anyway! (For Chapter 55) Lol Observer-chan did want a younger sibling, so close enough? Also, yes, that Hibari appearance! It's amazing because he did nothing on that chapter ^^' (Chapter 56) Route? You mean romance...? Honestly, I'm not quite sure if that'll ever happen: I've been giving that a lot of consideration, but I'm more leaning towards 'no' for now. Funny you mention Tsuna since I scratched him out immediately as a love interest (if romance were to ever happen): I dunno, I feel like Observer-chan and him should just be really good friends and nothing more; he's already got two girls to worry about. (Chapter 56.5) Omg so much yes for a horror movie with Hibari XDD (Chapter 57) Believe it or not, Reborn did use explosives in cannon to teach Tsuna: you can see that on one of the earlier episodes. Oooh, a Head Adviser? You're _kind of_ close, yet not really: I guess you'll have to see in the future arc 8D As for Hana and the Arcobaleno, I do hope they'll show up more, but it might prove difficult; cannon doesn't show all the arcobaleno until the last arc of the series and it's hard to include Hana in stuff! (Chapter 58) If you felt that way then it went according to plan! Well, her situation's not exactly like Yuni's but I can't spoil anything X.X What the Funeral Wreaths think about Observer-chan? Bluebell dislikes her because she has Byakuran's attention for unknown reasons (she be jelly ^^'), Zakuro thinks she's just a brat, Torikabuto, uh... is Torikabuto, Kikyo is indifferent towards her and Daisy has yet to meet her. Dat feel when someone says 'it's getting good' about my story ;_; So moved to tears.**

... At this point, does the First Words section being long even faze you? Hopefully not ^^' Anyway, this story got 1 favorite, which is pretty cool! Seriously, it's amazing since I've been noticing just how bad my earlier chapters are: their writing isn't very good and some things I've said in this section (of those earlier chapter) aren't things I'd like to keep around. I've been actively working on re-writing them, but it's admittedly a lot of work, so it'll take a long time until I get them done: in other words, you'll only see the results of the editing spree I mentioned to you much later! Also, I'm planning on changing the story's title when that happens, so keep that in mind! Beyond that, I only have to say that holy shit, this chapter is so long! It's way longer than I envisioned it since it's supposed to be your resting period after the last one (that one was huuuge, so...).

**Fun Facts:**

**\- The location Observer-chan and Kikyo were at in this chapter to talk was the same one Tsuna, Aria and the girls were at after doing all the shopping (and where they went to get Tsuna a drink and Tsuna talked with Aria and all that) in the Arcobaleno Trials arc, you know, that filler arc from the anime? No...? You don't remember...? Damn it...!**

**\- While Observer-chan's flame is Cloud as I have established before, her mother's flame is Mist, and her father's is Sky; pretty diverse, huh?**

It's always strange when my Fun Facts actually resemble fun facts ^^' Whatever the case, enjoy!

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**Chapter 60: Getting only some of my much needed explanations**

* * *

"It seems like there is no longer any reason for you to stay in this area," my Holy Protection said while positioning himself next to me, "So, what will your next course of action be?" I gave him a few glances, uncomfortable with how close he was to me.

The fact that he was much nicer and more courteous than Zakuro and Bluebell seemed to be making me more intimidated than happy, which was very strange to me: it was just difficult to imagine His Divine Presence having decent people working for Him, so I couldn't help but find that more suspicious. Awkwardly, I stated, "For now, I'd like to go home, I guess... But, um, what's your name?"

Despite being tired, I still needed to know more about my Holy Protection as it looked like he was the one who was going to give me all the explanations I wanted. With that in mind, I couldn't just rest at home before at least getting some information. "Ha-han? Now that you mention it, I did forget to introduce myself; I apologize," he calmly said, "Anyway, my name is Kikyo, and I have been assigned to protect you from any dangers this incident could pose upon you, among other things; it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

... Instinctively, I bowed. "L-likewise," I nervously responded, truly realizing that I was standing before someone who I could not match in terms of politeness: he was at a completely different level. _Why are Byakuran's angels so strange?_ I could only assume that was because His Divine Presence was strange as well, but not in a good way like Kikyo seemed to be.

"Ha-han, there is no need for you to be so formal." _Says the guy speaking very formally...!_ Besides, it looked like he was more amused at seeing me flustered than anything, which didn't make me feel any better. "After all, I will be acting as a bodyguard or assistant of sorts for you; you may as well treat me like one."

I immediately shook my head. "I can't do something like that!" In my mind, speaking to someone like Kikyo as if he were below me was a preposterous idea: people who had such great manners were not to be disrespected... even if they happened to be related to His Divine Presence.

"If you insist," he said, "However, when you no longer feel comfortable with that, do not hesitate in stopping. Byakuran-sama did tell me this was supposed to be a fun experience for you, so I recommend you approach this situation with that mindset." Just hearing His name made me grimace. _'Fun'? Oh yeah, I can definitely expect to have _fun_ with this, totally!_

_I mean, it's not like I was about to die from some Vongola guy or anything!_ The only person who was going to have fun from this was His Divine Presence, and I was well aware of that. "I don't think I'll be able to do that," I answered, knowing that Tsuna and the others were probably going to suffer in some way.

"Ha-han? Well, that will be your loss and your loss alone then." _What, am I actually supposed to derive enjoyment from the suffering of my friends? What kind of sick bastard is Byakuran?_ A huge one, I noted: somehow, that made a lot of sense... "Now, didn't you say you wanted to go home?"

Unlike Zakuro, it seemed like Kikyo did not have some strange connection with me that would allow him to read my thoughts: that made me feel relieved, since it meant that sort of thing wasn't an ability every angel possessed (that Bluebell had just happened not to use). Focusing on Kikyo's words, I said, "Yeah, I did." Apparently, that answer hadn't been enough as Kikyo was still giving me an expectant look. "So..."

Having nothing better to say, I simply stared at Kikyo awkwardly, observing how his composed smile hadn't gone away at all throughout the whole conversation. "Shall we go?" With those words, we both started walking out of the area as I noticed how Kikyo had made me move without any questions: he had charisma, I could definitely admit that.

**. . .**

... However, as I noticed something wrong, extremely (yes, _extremely)_ wrong even, I abruptly stopped in my tracks with a disturbed expression on my face. Meanwhile, Kikyo had somehow been able to stop at the exact same time as me without having known I was going to do so, eyeing me curiously. "Ha-han? Is something wrong?"

I struggled to even speak out the problem I had detected, but I had no other choice as it was that important. "Um, this may just be my imagination, but... Are you planning on coming with me? As in, to my house? Inside?" I even elaborated on my question, not wanting him to misunderstand and make matters complicated.

After all, if someone like Kikyo were to enter my house by any reason, all Hell would break loose... ironically. _There's no way he'd be doing that... right?_ "Of course." His bemused answer was all it took to completely crush my hopes. "After all, it is my duty to be near you at all times, no matter the situation."

... I froze. My brain stopped working. His smile just made it even worse.

**. . .**

**. . .**

**. . .**

_**"Your duty is to WHAT?!"**_ I burst out, my voice louder than usual; I was sure it cracked at the last word too. Not only that but due to my brain having stopped working, I spoke in a far ruder way than I would've ever intended to Kikyo. "Wait, wait, wait, weren't you supposed to just give me explanations?! That's what Byakuran told me!"

Those had been my exact thoughts, only let out due to the absolute shock I had gotten from processing Kikyo's words. "That is also one of my duties here; Byakuran-sama was in no way mistaken," Kikyo answered, the fact that he was still so composed amazing me slightly.

"B-but...!" I stammered, unable to even form a sentence to argue. _At all times? No matter the situation?! What the hell, Byakuran never told me about this!_ I couldn't possibly imagine what would happen to me if Kikyo were to ever enter my house, especially since my mother was almost always home. What sort of explanation would I give her? What excuse would I have to come up with?

Would I have to tell her the truth? Wouldn't that completely doom me? A storm of thoughts were haunting my mind, and I couldn't just ignore them when they were perfectly justifiable questions. "How about you calm yourself down for now?" Kikyo suggested, a kind smile on his face. "Hmmm... Would a change of scenery help you organize your thoughts?" _Well, I definitely wouldn't want to stick around here, but I'm not just going to ignore the fact that he's apparently supposed to be with me 24/7!_

"A-as long as it's not my house," I reluctantly answered, not yet sure if Kikyo's idea was the best. Even so, he was right in assuming our conversation would go nowhere with me freaking out so, due to that, I was leaning towards the decision of going somewhere else, at least so I could temporarily forget the events I had gone through: that would calm me down slightly.

Besides, that also meant I would be going on a walk, which didn't sound so bad... despite it being a walk with my Holy Protection; I unfortunately had no choice on that matter. "Ha-han, understood." Slowly, I started walking, Kikyo following that awkward pace next to me as if he didn't mind it at all. While I had changed directions so as to not even reach anywhere near my house, I didn't have any idea of where I was going, and I assumed Kikyo didn't either.

Whatever the case, it wasn't even afternoon yet: there was still plenty of time, all of it having initially been for having fun with everyone... Unfortunately, I was instead going on the most awkward walk ever and presumably receive necessary explanations afterwards.

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

As I walked, eyes downcast, I found myself on the town's outskirts, which I had never been to. In the whole time I had just been moving, Kikyo remained completely silent, walking proudly next to me: that was most likely for my sake, as getting my mind in order did require a fairly peaceful mood. That, despite the slight awkwardness that Kikyo's presence caused, had been somewhat achieved, so I was sure I had calmed down.

Looking up, I noticed there was a table with wooden benches serving as seats nearby which would make for a nice location to see the river that was next to us; Kikyo caught on as well. "Ha-han? Have you finally calmed down? If so, let's sit over there: it seems like a pleasant enough location to talk, don't you think so?" I simply nodded before we both headed over to that area.

Kikyo sat at the bench opposite of mine, while I simply stared at him expectantly: I knew what was coming, and my mind was ready for it. _This is gonna be a long conversation..._ Even so, I had to get my explanations if I wanted to get through the incident, or at least so I could help Tsuna and the others with it. "Well then, if I am to explain everything to you now, it would be best to start with today's occurrence."

_Okay, so I'll finally know what the deal was with that box and that guy from the Vongola, right?_ "The man that attacked you, Squalo Superbi, was it? He is indeed from the Vongola, but he is no normal member: he belongs to the Varia, an independent assassination squad infamous for being able to accomplish seemingly impossible missions." I flinched. _He was an assassin?!_ "They had once attempted to overthrow the Ninth but failed, and Xanxus, the boss of the Varia, was frozen by him. However, he was somehow freed from the ice that bound him recently and now plans on taking the position of Tenth boss."

"For that, he needs the Vongola Rings: these are a set of valuable and powerful rings passed down from generation to generation within the Vongola, and possessing them is almost the equivalent of naming yourself its new Boss." _Rings?_ I thought, a confused expression on my face. _How can something like that be so powerful? Besides, that still doesn't clear the reason why Squalo was around in the first place._

If he was instead aiming for some rings, why had he been in Namimori? Tsuna did not possess any rings, and I was sure of it. "Then why was that guy here?" I asked. _He wouldn't have been fighting with that weird boy for no reason._

"Ha-han? To steal the rings, of course." I raised an eyebrow at him, but he paid that no mind. "The CEDEF, an organization separate from the Vongola, decided to give half of the Vongola Rings to Tsunayoshi Sawada, your friend and next-in-line for the position of Tenth boss. The Varia, knowing of that, sent him out to retrieve them."

That only made me have more questions. For the time being, I decided to ask one thing at the time. "Half?"

"It's a safety measure of the Vongola to have its rings split in half, in case someone were to steal them: one belongs to the CEDEF, and the other belongs to the Vongola boss; officially, they are called the Half Vongola Rings. When the two decide on different boss candidates, one half is given to each, like today's situation." _Wait, isn't this CEDEF thing really important then? They have a say in who gets to be the next boss of the Vongola!_

Not only that, but they also seemed to be vouching for Tsuna if they were apparently going to give out the rings to him. _But when did Tsuna get those rings today? I mean, we were interrupted by Squalo, who was fighting that weird boy, and... Oh!_ "With today's situation, you mean the fight between that boy and that, um, Squalo person? If so, was that box the boy had given Tsuna the Half Vongola Rings?! That means the boy's from the CEDEF!"

"Ha-han, not exactly: although he truly is from the CEDEF, the box he had only contained fake versions of the rings; he was a mere scapegoat," Kikyo explained. _What?_ "As you can see, the CEDEF supports Tsunayoshi Sawada as the true boss candidate, while the Ninth seems to be supporting Xanxus." _Why the hell would the Ninth do _that?!_ I mean, didn't that Xanxus guy try to overthrow him?_ "This matter is what will spawn the true incident you will have to witness, as the fake rings will eventually be found out. However, the details of the future will be left for when you'll be in need of them." _Damn it, are you serious?!_ "Now then, I assume you have many questions you'd like me to answer, no?"

_Yeah, like what incident will I have to go through, for example!_ Kikyo's words really pissed me off because I just knew His Divine Presence had told him to only say what was necessary, and as I had definitely gotten to know, what was necessary to me in his opinion did not at all match what was truly necessary for me. Even so, I did have other questions, so I resigned to asking those. "Uh, yes: if the Varia has the fake Half Vongola Rings, who has the real ones now?"

"That would be Tsunayoshi Sawada and his companions, I suppose: surely they have been delivered to them by now." Somehow, that answer managed to confuse me further. _Tsuna's companions? As in, Gokudera and Yamamoto? Everyone else, too?_

I doubted that box had enough rings for everyone, but even if it had, I still had no idea as to why that was the case. "Isn't Tsuna the only one who should have the rings? You did tell me having them was proof of being the boss, so it doesn't make sense that everyone else would have them too."

"Ha-han, it seems like I wasn't thorough in explaining the Vongola Rings to you; I apologize for that." _Well, you do have a whole lot to say so I guess it's understandable..._ "The Vongola Rings are seven in total: the Sky Ring, the Storm Ring, the Rain Ring, the Lightning Ring, the Sun Ring, the Mist Ring and the Cloud Ring. While the Sky Ring is for the Boss to wear, the others are for the six people deemed worthy of protecting him: they have such names to match the attributes that would make them that way. Since the Guardians are but subordinates of the Boss, it could be said the Boss possesses all the rings."

_So that's what made him use that logic. But..._ "That means six people Tsuna knows are his Guardians, right?" I asked. _Why? It's not like they decided anything of that sort... But then again, Tsuna was forced to be the Boss, so I guess it works that way, huh?_

"Yes; they were chosen by the CEDEF," he answered as if he had read my thoughts, having probably been able to correctly guess the reason I asked him that question in particular. "They are most likely unaware of this, however." _I can bet that much._

I wondered who exactly had become which Guardian: the rings were supposedly according to some sort of attributes, which meant there was some logic as to why they were picked. "Do you know which people became the Guardians?" _Gokudera and Yamamoto must've been picked, but which rings got sent to them...?_

_Yamamoto's a cheerful guy so he's got the Sun Ring, I guess? Gokudera could be the Guardian with the Rain Ring, since he makes me feel like the times I get my walks interrupted by rain._ That happened more times than I'd like to count, and it would always sour my mood. Rain was a vile thing: it would force me to be indoors the whole day, doing nothing special. "Ha-han, I do happen to know that, but I am not allowed to tell you: Byakuran-sama wants you to find that out on your own."

My eyebrows furrowed, a displeased expression on my face. _That bastard...!_ "I see..." I muttered, completely certain that Kikyo would follow His Divine Presence's orders, making it pointless to argue. "Then, can you at least tell me more about this CEDEF organization you talked about? I'm not really sure what they're supposed to be."

"The CEDEF are external advisors to the Vongola: they have the right to choose a boss candidate and, in times of conflict, its leader become second-in-command to the Boss and merge with the Vongola," Kikyo explained and I nodded afterwards. _Alright... Would've thought it was pointless if not for what's happening now._

After all, the CEDEF seemed to be the good guys as they were trying to stop this Xanxus person while, somehow, the Ninth was stupidly choosing him as the next boss: surely those kinds of problems were what whoever founded the organization had in mind. "Okay," I awkwardly said, "Um, well, I don't think I have anything else I'd like to ask."

"Ha-han, is that so?" Kikyo stood up from his seat and walked a few steps away from it. That made me do the same as I stared at him, confirming in my mind if I still had any pertinent doubts. "We should leave then: our destination will be your house, correct?"

... I flinched. _Seriously?! I'm pretty sure it's clear I don't want you in it!_ "N-not 'our' destination... Is there anything I can do to make you not have to always follow me around?" I grimaced, having reminded myself of the issue that fried my brain before.

"Unless Byakuran-sama wills it, there will be no exceptions." _Of course, how could I ever forget...?_ My Holy Protection's loyalty to His Divine Presence was truly amazing, but not very unexpected. The fact that Kikyo kept amazing composure didn't help as it only made it harder to go against him, even if he was smiling.

With that, I nervously glanced to the side, hoping to come up with something to say. "Well... Can't you tell Byakuran about this matter to see if He'd allow that?" Although I hated the idea of having to rely on Him like that, I had no choice since that was the only way I could make those angels move.

"Ha-han? You say that as if Byakuran-sama weren't watching us as we speak: surely He would have relayed something to me if He did find a need to change it."_ So you can communicate?! Actually, why didn't I figure this out before...?_ He was God, after all: He could probably communicate telepathically with just about anyone, let alone his own angels. _Wait..._

_Doesn't that mean He could've just done that instead of calling me to Heaven?! What the hell, that would've been much more convenient!_ Instead of making me pass out, speaking to me directly just seemed like a much better idea, especially when that didn't involve making my mother suspicious in any way. Even so, I would've probably thought I was going insane if suddenly a voice started speaking to me, claiming to be God; that wasn't what anyone would call normal, after all. _I guess it was for the best...? If meeting Him could even be considered good, that is._ "Can't I talk to Him, then?"

Admittedly, I didn't want to deal with someone like His Divine Presence but I was out of ideas: in an optimistic manner, I thought that perhaps I could persuade Him to tell Kikyo not to follow me everywhere. "If you could, you would have surely been called by now." Kikyo's answer was straightforward, allowing me for no more suggestions: it almost seemed like it had that exact purpose, which didn't make me feel so great. "Is it really that troublesome for you to have me inside your house?"

_Yes!_ "Yes," I quickly said, "I wouldn't want my parents to see you since, uh... They don't really know of my circumstances." I dreaded the day my parents would find out I was somehow involved with the affairs of the mafia, knowing that I would be more than scolded for it. Not only that, but the whole truth of my situation was so ridiculous that I really couldn't tell them about it anyway, so I was better off keeping it all a secret.

Besides, I still wasn't sure if His Divine Presence wanted me to hide everything or not, and didn't want to know the consequences on His end if I happened to fail at that. "Ha-han... I see." His smile widened, leaving me confused. "It seems you're in luck: Byakuran-sama has approved your request." _Holy shit, really?! He's doing something right for once...!_ "This means that, instead of staying in your house like initially planned, an alternative living space will be arranged for so as to avoid any problems related to your reasoning."

_Wait, your original plan was to **live in my house?!** How the hell would that have ever been a good idea?! I'm so glad I insisted on this issue or I might've had a really complicated situation to deal with..._ I didn't even want to know how exactly Kikyo or His Divine Presence were thinking of pulling that off, as it would definitely be beyond my comprehension. Considering Kikyo's words further, I wondered if His Divine Presence had decided to make that exception due to it actually being troublesome if my parents found everything out: while not looking like it, did His Divine Presence not want me to tell the truth? "T-that's nice," I said, wanting to ignore the last part of what Kikyo had told me.

"Ha-han? I was honestly expecting a better reaction than that since you looked so desperate before: could it be there is still something you aren't satisfied with?" Despite his words, he didn't look like he was bothered by me; he actually seemed curious instead. _There's no way I'd be satisfied with still having you following me around!_

I shook my head. "Oh, no, not really..." I muttered, still finding myself somewhat nervous around Kikyo due to how... flawless he seemed. "Uh, anyway, I think I should get going now." I turned to where we had come from to arrive at this area, as that was the only path I knew: if I were to follow it, it would take me to a familiar area and consequently make me know the way home.

"Then, as part of my duty, I'll accompany you," Kikyo said as if to remind me of the fact that he did have to be near me at all times; I sighed. _I guess the path doesn't count as part of that exception, huh... Why does he have to follow me around all the time anyway? To protect me? To give me more explanations in the future? Both?_

I assumed that was the case and reluctantly started walking, wondering just how many days the incident I had gotten into would last...

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

It was already afternoon when we reached my neighborhood and we were fairly close to my house. Suddenly, Kikyo had stopped moving, making me turn around when I noticed that. "Hm?" Admittedly, after a long time of walking in mostly silence, I had started forgetting Kikyo's presence despite how tall and flashy he looked.

"We are close to your house, no? Because of that, I will be taking my leave now." _Oh, nice!_ At first, I thought he was going to accompany me all the way to the door, but he actually had the decency not to take such a risk and leave me alone at a close distance to my house; I nodded firmly. "But, before that, there is one more thing I need to tell you," he said, making me stare at him confusedly, "You received a ring from Byakuran-sama, correct? From tomorrow on, you must wear it; do keep that in mind."

_... What?_ My gaze turned blank at Kikyo's words. _I have to wear that ring? That ring I got from Byakuran? Seriously...?_ Although His Divine Presence had told me I would need it, I had just wanted that day to never come. _But it's so showy...! I've never worn any rings either!_ "Well then, I'll see you tomorrow." With those words, Kikyo walked away from me, leaving me to process the ring issue for a while with a grimace.

_I guess I should've seen that coming, huh...? What's so special about that ring anyway?_ Was it special in the same way the Vongola Rings were special? That couldn't be the case as the Vongola Rings were more of a mark of being a mafia boss or trusted guardians, while my ring had unknown uses._ If I'm being made to wear that ring, it must mean there's something I have to do that I can only pull off with it... but what can you do with a ring?_

Confused, I decided to just walk home. _Hopefully I can ask Kikyo about this one..._ Since His Divine Presence was in charge of which piece of information I was allowed to know, I wasn't even sure if I could get my answers: I felt somewhat bound to my Holy Protection and His Divine Presence, and saying it displeased me was an understatement; I didn't want to be controlled.

Having gotten to the main door of my house, I used my keys to open it and went inside. "I'm back!" I shouted dryly as I closed the door behind me and took my shoes off. Walking out of the entrance and to the living room, I found that my father wasn't around: I assumed I hadn't arrived that late and just shrugged.

When I reached the room's couch, I practically fell on it, tired from all that had happened today. Looking up at the ceiling from my position on the couch, I started feeling more relaxed: although I enjoyed being outside, it always felt good to return to the safety and comfort of home; only after feeling better would I then feel like leaving it.

After a while, I heard footsteps and immediately knew who they belonged to: after all, no one else but my parents and I lived in this house. "Welcome back," my mother said as she reached the living room, making me lift my head to look at her. "I take it you had fun today?"

"Sure..." I muttered tiredly, reminding myself of Squalo. While it was also long and tiring, that incident in Kokuyo had at least lasted only a day: this one seemed much longer, so I knew it wouldn't be very pleasant.

My mother raised an eyebrow at my words. "Well, isn't that a lackluster response; did something happen?" I sighed and changed to a sitting position on the couch, facing my mother.

"Not really: I did have fun with everyone but... I guess I'm just tired," I answered, feeling slightly saddened at the fact that I was lying to my mother. _I don't have any choice..._ Even so, I wondered if she could've solved any of my problems if I told her everything: she would have at least tried, or she could've become an emotional support of sorts for me; thinking about that only made me sadder.

My mother narrowed her eyes at me and stared for a while, making for a period of silence I wasn't too comfortable with. "Come here," she simply said before turning around and leaving the room. Somewhat surprised, I stood up and followed her, unsure of why she had suddenly decided to change locations.

Quickly, we had gotten to the dining room. My mother sat down and, afterwards, gestured for me to take a seat as well, that being the chair opposite of hers; I awkwardly complied. "You're not just tired, are you?" my mother asked, a stern expression on her face. "You insisted that much on skipping school to go with your friends, which you've never done before; I wouldn't imagine you coming back like this."

"It's because I had fun with them that I'm tired, mom," I countered, "It was just a very long day for me, that's all." In my defense, part of that was true: the beginning of the day was fun, especially since there was no strange danger and Holy Protection involved. _I wish this day hadn't been interrupted like that..._

My mother glanced towards the window, though its curtains were on it at the time; afterwards, she sighed. "Is that so..." I knew why she had reacted that way: she was onto me; she knew I was lying. Because of it, she was in just as much pain as me when having this sort of conversation: I couldn't blame her, as I would've surely been sad in the same way if my mother were suddenly hiding things from me. "I don't know why you're like this, but I can tell it's for a good reason; otherwise, you would've blurted everything out by now. Even so, you have to carefully consider things like that: sometimes, there are burdens you can't handle on your own. On such times, you have to rely on someone: if you can't, for _some_ reason, rely on me, which you _absolutely can_ by the way, you've got to at least have one of your friends help you."

My eyes were cast on the table as I listened to my mother's words, unwilling to speak up. "I honestly don't know why you think hiding whatever it is you're going through from me is a good idea: maybe it's because you think it would trouble me, or because you think I wouldn't be able to do anything about it even if I knew. If it is, you're just being an idiot: not telling me troubles me more, and there is no way I would sit still when you have a problem. However, if it's not anything like that, I won't force it out of you: whatever it is, it must be that important. Even so, if I find it's something truly serious or unacceptable, don't think I won't do anything about it: consider yourself lucky I haven't done so right now." My hands, hidden under the table, trembled; I could feel them on my legs.

Despite that, I made an effort not to show it in my expression, not wanting to ruin everything. "Anyway, I'm telling you this because these are things you have to know, so you better think hard about it afterwards. Also, above all, don't forget your father and I will always be here for you; don't _ever_ doubt that, alright?" I weakly nodded, hoping that would be enough for her to change the subject. "As long as you understand..." I looked up from the table only to see a bitter smile on my mother's face: that made me feel worse, as I could tell she wasn't very pleased with the situation.

Finding that I was facing her, my mother stared straight at me for a while, as if searching for any particular reaction I had gotten from her words: knowing her, she could probably tell exactly how I was feeling; she had always been that perceptive. "Well, now that we're both here and having a chat, I might as well continue on to address something else." This time, my mother's smile was more lighthearted, as if she wanted to brighten the mood: that was definitely for my sake since she knew I was sad. "You see, your large group of friends has been waiting outside this house almost every morning lately, and I can't help but notice that whenever I'm in the kitchen since I can see them through this window."

She pointed at the window she had been glancing at before, making me give her a curious look._ Where is she going with this...?_ "They're quite the lively group, I must say: Haru-chan and three others like waving at me whenever they spot me and the one with the bandage on his nose had once started shouting about wanting you to join your school's _Math Club_ of all things to me," my mother chuckled after saying that, but I didn't find that very funny._ Ryohei, why..._ "I'm actually surprised you were able to get along so well with those kinds of people: you usually try to avoid being involved with them, and you did tell me over and over about how weird they were on your earlier days here. Even so, I'm glad that's the case: they seem like good friends."

"Huh?" I uttered confusedly, "Wait, weren't you saying they were a bad influence on me this morning?" I had almost thought she wouldn't let me skip classes when she said that, so it did stick well in my memory: besides, I had never seen any signs that she held such an impression of Tsuna and the others; she had never spoken to me about it.

As I thought about it, I hadn't gone straight home that many times lately: I'd mostly go to Tsuna's house or hang out with Kyoko, Hana and Haru. Maybe, due to that, there hadn't been much time for my mother and I to have an actual conversation regarding them. "Oh my, you took that seriously? It was just a joke: if I _really_ thought they were a bad influence on you, I would have done something about it already; I wouldn't have let you skip classes either." _What exactly would you have done about that though...?!_

Just thinking about it scared me. "Really, I can tell those people care about you: whenever you leave the house, they instantly look at you and smile genuinely... well, except for that silver-haired one." _Gokudera? How am I not surprised...?_ "Even then, I can tell he doesn't hate you: he doesn't look like the type to bother with waiting for someone like that if he hates them."_ No, it's just for his Tenth..._ While she was perceptive, there were also times where my mother would be wrong. "Whatever the case, they're good people: people like them, who actually care about you and your well-being, are the kind you should treasure; they don't come around often."

She seemed serious with those words, which was surprising me somewhat. "And, since they truly care about you, you can rely on them through thick and thin: they're what you'll need at the times me or your father won't be able to help you. Remember that well, you hear me?" _Mom...?_ "Especially that scrawny boy with brown hair, Tsunayoshi Sawada, was it? He wouldn't leave anyone behind, and he'd accept everything; I can see it in his eyes. In a way, he reminds me of your father: he's always got an honest, straightforward look to him too, though I doubt you've noticed that."

"Huh...?" I found myself having a hard time processing what my mother had said: she seemed to speak from experience, or really from a mixture of experience and intuition; I couldn't quite tell. If anything, it wasn't intuition that led her to saying that, but just her observant behavior in general. I had never met someone as observant as my mother: she would take her time looking through your every action and, after that, deduct a suitable answer to match you in a conversation.

Due to that, the times she would lose an argument were rare: the only person who could truly match her effortlessly when he wanted to was my father; maybe that was why they were married. "Well, it's alright if you don't understand: not everyone does either; you'll only know when you grow up," she said, "Oh, and while Tsunayoshi-kun may look the most trustworthy out of everyone, it doesn't mean everyone isn't just as trustworthy: if anything, people like him are too trusting; everyone else just have above average levels." _Levels...?_ Sometimes, my mother's thought process was incomprehensible to me. "Though, you really _are_ lucky when it comes to friendships: you always manage to befriend the honest ones. It makes me wonder if all my advice is for nothing..."

"Don't worry, it helps," I simply responded, "Anyway, is that... all you wanna talk about or is there something else you want to tell me? Preferably, I wouldn't want to keep hearing how well you can see through people without even talking to them..." _Seriously, it's like everyone's an open book to her..._

My mother shook her head. "If you watch them for long enough, you can tell that kind of thing, and as I've said, I've been seeing them almost every morning: you'd also know a fair bit about them after observing them for so long and hearing their loud voices through an open window. Besides, they're honest people." _You're just assuming that last part...!_

_Not that it isn't true..._ "If you say so," I concluded with a shrug. I could bet Tsuna and everyone were really loud, so maybe my mother would have to hear their conversations most of the time: if so, hadn't she picked up on their weirdness? Somehow, it was the only thing she didn't mention despite that being one of the most important parts to bring up. "Now, I'll just go to my room, okay?"

"Not so fast!" I froze in the middle of standing up, making for a very awkward position. "Since you've got all your energy back, I'm going to put it to use." My mother smirked as I looked at her with an incredulous expression. _Was she having that talk just to cheer me up or was this also part of her plan?!_ Unlike my mother, I couldn't read everyone like an open book, so I had no idea what she was thinking. "You see, I've yet to make dinner so I figured my _hard-working daughter_ could help me out with that..."

_No, no...!_ I shook my head furiously, hoping to escape the chores that awaited me. "Don't think you've got a choice: it's about time you learn how to cook anyway. At your age, I'd make all my lunches by myself, you know?" _Just because you did doesn't mean I should too!_

I sighed. "Damn it..."

"Language, _dear!_"

_"Damn it,_ mom, I know you don't mean that!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

I have to admit, I laughed at this ending XD Also, Observer-chan may not have the people skillz her mother (her name is Miyako, actually, but I never call her that, it's just 'Observer-chan's mother') does, but she at least knows her mother well enough to see through most of her stuff, which is why she totally knew her mother was just teasing her at the ending: she's actually kind of lax with that kind of stuff, but strict with others; Observer-chan's father is just lax in general.

I don't know, this chapter is kind of on the..._ talkative_ side, and nothing really happens beyond Observer-chan talking with Kikyo and her mother: hopefully that's not too boring ^^' Kikyo is such a tricky bastard though: his Ha-hans are really hard to time, you know? Besides, he didn't do much beyond explaining stuff to Observer-chan, which hopefully you could've understood if you knew as little as her: I try not to let my awkward, can't-explain-stuff-for-shit side of me be mixed with the characters, but I might have just failed somewhere; if I have, please tell me!

You also got to see a lot of Observer-chan's mother: while she can be pretty stern and intimidating, she also has a playful side and quite the sarcastic streak; she's way snarkier than her daughter. Not only that, but she's remarkably observant, so she can see through people really well: sucks for Observer-chan that she can't see through the fact that Byakuran is the one behind everything, but that's impossible by any standards. While I really like Observer-chan's mother, she has nothing to do with my own: my mother is absolutely flawless, so yeah... ^^'

Okay, fine, she's not absolutely flawless (yes she is, don't be fooled), but she really has nothing to do with Observer-chan's mother: my mother doesn't have that sort of playful side, and she isn't as strict either. Whatever the case, Observer-chan's conversation with her mother actually made me think of a backstory for her, which you will unfortunately not be able to see since it doesn't matter to the story: maybe I'll sneak in some foreshadowing if I can... maybe. If I feel like it. I don't know, I just feel like no one would be interested in that since that doesn't have anything to do with Tsuna and everyone else: stuff like Observer-chan's mother is Observer-chan-centered, after all.

Even then, if you've gotten this far, surely you care about Observer-chan somewhat, right? Right...? I mean, when I don't like the OC of a fic, I usually can't keep reading it. So, um, hopefully you care? ^^' This chapter might not have been the most interesting one after the chaotic chapter that came before it, but the next one will have more Varia arc stuff: you'll be in for some surprises. Look forward to that?


	67. Chapter 61

**First Words:**

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**Guest - Oooh, welcome back! At least, I'm pretty sure you're the same guest! But yeah, originally, I wanted Kikyo to live in Observer-chan's house for extra awkwardness, but then I thought that her mother wouldn't just let that fly and I couldn't come up with a good excuse, so I got an even weirder idea and gave up on that. Well, even if you say 'Byakuran's team', there's really only Daisy left to introduce (there's no Ghost in this AU), and Kikyo will still stick around; just not at Observer-chan's house. As far as Daisy is concerned though, I think I have an idea of where I'll get him to show up... maybe. Observer-chan isn't gonna wear the ring around her neck because it didn't come to mind for her to do so, meaning it'll be in plain sight ^^' Fortunately, no one knows about the Trinisette, at least as far as I remember: they only get to know about it in the Future arc. I laughed when you called Observer-chan's mother a sneaky lil shit, because she totally is XD Since you're right about Kikyo saying 'Ha-han' like, every other line, I added a few more Ha-hans to the last chapter; I felt he was lacking them. I'm relieved that you liked that chapter, because I was really nervous about it: after the grand Chapter 59, I was afraid people would find Chapter 60 underwhelming ^^'**

**L's Cappuccino - It's really awesome that you read this so thoroughly, but it also means you picked up on all my embarrassing typos, nuuu X.X I do wonder if you could've ever predicted some of the stuff in this chapter... Yeah, you're right, I misused the word 'sadistic', but since I doubt Observer-chan would ever utter the word 'Freudenschade', I corrected that in a different manner. Kikyo is really polite, in that reliable, 'I can deal with almost every situation so don't worry about anything' kind of way: unfortunately for Observer-chan, he is completely loyal to Byakuran so he acts only for his sake; basically, no spoilers for u 8D**

**Collegegirl - Haha, Squalo is supposed to be the guy that points out everything in this story, so he had to point that out too: even so, I'm pretty sure Gokudera called him 'super hero bastard' a number of times, so it's not like he's the first one to mention that. And omg, you have highlights of the parts you liked the most from my chapter, that's so awesome, I never thought my story would be worthy of that! But yeah, those were also my favorites ^^ And all dat Dino in that chapter, I found it so hilarious too; Dino makes for really funny situations since he's so cool and awkward at the same time. Also, omg dat feel when you say my OC is better than a cannon character, thank you ;_;: I personally find Tsuna to be the better straight-man out of the KHR characters, but I really like Hana too since you can tell she cares about Kyoko. When this story is at a cannon arc, its chapters get _really_ long; hopefully no one minds ^^' It's nice to see the fun facts are being somewhat helpful, even if they're just pieces of trivia you don't actually need to know; I like writing them too (when I don't get stuck ^^').**

Anyway, this story got 2 favorites and 2 followers, which is totally awesome! Thank you!

This chapter made me realize just how much I'm destroying cannon with this AU, as a lot of stuff is starting to really differ from how it actually went: because of that, I think you'll find this arc more interesting to read. Besides, I think that's also what's making me write so much: there's just so much original stuff surfacing from this story that I can't limit my word count that much... not that I've been limiting it in the first place, since I've given up a long time ago on that.

One thing that I noticed from re-watching the Varia arc is that it has the purpose of developing the characters in KHR, like Gokudera: since my story is making it become kind of different from the original thing, I don't think the development will be the same either, and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing; I'm afraid this will make me dig my own grave with this story. Wish me luck? Also, **all typos involving Basil are completely intentional. As always, the glossary's in the Author's Notes.**

Colonello's speech patterns - you know how he's always saying 'kora' in his sentences, right? I've translated that in a more literal manner, replacing that with 'hey' or 'see', or other stuff like that.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- While Byakuran is the one that relays all the information to Kikyo, he doesn't actually tell him what to do with it: Kikyo acts on his own, knowing what Byakuran would like to see. Despite that, there are some things Byakuran doesn't tell him which he simply deducts, like how he thought the rings had already been delivered on the day of Chapters 59-60, when they had actually only been given on the next day (Chapter 61);**

**\- Unlike canon, where Colonello only arrived at the hospital a bit before Ryohei showed up, he was actually there from the beginning, before Tsuna had even gotten there to give the ring(s) back to Dino. Yamamoto and Gokudera were supposed to leave at the same time in cannon too, but Bianchi's appearance made it so that would be impossible, so Yamamoto left way earlier than everyone else from the hospital.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 61: Awkward revelations and just as awkward hospital visits**

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On the next day, as I finished getting ready for school, I reminded myself of something; I glared at a drawer of my desk._ Do I have to...?_ I sighed, knowing I did have no choice. I approached that drawer and opened it, only to find the ring His Divine Presence had given me: it was as showy as I remembered. _It has wings and everything, ugh..._

I reluctantly took it and slid it through the ring finger of my right hand, grimacing._ Couldn't He have chosen a better ring? I don't wanna go to school with this..._ Putting my complaining aside, I walked over to where my bag was and picked it up: with that, I was ready to go downstairs.

_Will mom comment on the ring? Oh, she probably will, and there's no way she wouldn't notice it..._ Frowning, I got out of my room, went down the stairs and turned left to the kitchen, which was also the dining room. In there, my mother was eating her own breakfast while my own was already placed on my seat. "Good morning," I greeted while noticing my father was nowhere to be seen.

Not only that, but there were no signs of his breakfast. "Good morning," my mother greeted back with a smile, "You're later than usual; your father already left for work." _Woah, really? I didn't hear him go out the door!_ After that thought, I noticed a curious expression on my mother's face as she stared at my right hand. "This is rather unusual: since when did you like wearing rings? Especially something like that..."

_I know, alright? I know this looks weird...!_ "I guess I'm just in the mood for that kind of thing now," I said, but my grimace didn't make me look that convincing. Finding that my mother was eyeing me in a suspecting manner, I decided to correct myself, "Okay, fine, H-Haru made me wear it." _Sorry, Haru, but you're the only person I could imagine doing that to me...!_

"Well, she has strange tastes then," my mother remarked, "not that it surprises me." _I'm really sorry, Haru!_ I briefly shifted my attention to my breakfast, wondering if I would have the time to eat it if I was 'later than usual'.

Even so, I couldn't skip on it since my mother thought I had passed out from not eating my meals (when I had just been in Heaven, of course), so I reasoned that I most likely had to sit down anyway. "Hey, are they waiting for me?" After all, despite that reasoning, I still didn't want to make everyone wait for me, especially when yesterday had been such a hectic day.

My mother looked up with a slightly surprised expression, as if she had realized something. "Now that I think about it, no one's outside yet: they're usually here early, so I do wonder what happened to them today..." _No one...?_ My eyes widened at that. _Could it be because of yesterday?! What if something happened...?!_ "It looks like you don't know either, huh."

"No..." I muttered, a worried expression on my face. For a bit, I wondered what to do, but then a great idea dawned on me. "I'll call Haru!" After all, she knew everything: if I wanted information, she was the most reliable option.

Taking out my cellphone from my school bag, I dialed Haru's number and waited. Meanwhile, my mother was staring curiously, most likely wanting to know what had happened as well.

**. . .**

**. . .**

After a while, I heard a sound, indicating she had picked up. "Hello?"

**"H-h-hello?!"** Haru's response was panicked, startling me. _Don't tell me something _actually_ happened!_

I could hear a few background noises, but couldn't tell what they belonged to. "Are you alright...?" I asked, genuinely worried yet confused at the same time.

"Um, somewhat!" _'Somewhat'?!_ "U-unfortunately, I d-don't think I can talk to you at the moment; I'm q-quite busy, you see— **Hahii,** yes, I'm sorry, Hibari-san, I-I'll get right on it so please don't swing those aroooound!" _'Hi-Hibari-san'...?!_

... I could see my mother staring at me confusedly, most likely because I had a frightened expression on my face. "That was close...! S-so, as you can see, I'm in the middle of a _dangerous_ situation here, meaning that I can't speak to you right now; I'm really sorry! I'll make it up to you later, I promise!"

"Wait, Haru, just where are you? Is Tsuna with you?" _I mean, I can tell it's a dangerous situation or whatever, but I need to know where you are to look for you!_ Since Hibari had been mentioned, I was assuming something related to him had happened and that was never good news.

However, the most important part was if it even had anything to do with the incident everyone was going to face: if it was then I was practically obligated to check it out. "T-T-Tsuna-san?! In my house— **Hahii!** I-I can't get any information if you hit me, Hibari-san! I'll stop the phone call so just calm— _**Hahiiiii...?!** _W-wah, no, Kikyo-san help—" The call had been cut off right when she was in the middle of saying something, an unnatural noise having marked its end; it was as if something had hit it.

In a normal situation (in Namimori's standards), I would wonder whether Hibari had broken her phone or not and conclude that was most likely the case. However, that had been no normal situation as I heard something that clearly made it more than super strange and/or scary (the standard for 'normal'); that had been only one word:

'Kikyo-san'.

**. . .**

**. . .**

**. . .**

I left my phone on my ear despite the call having already ended, frozen on the spot. "Hey," I heard my mother call, noticing how pale my face was. She had a worried expression, knowing that my brain had stopped working for some reason: even so, she had no idea as to why that was the case. "Hey!"

I snapped out of it from hearing my mother raising her voice, reminding myself of how scary she could be if she was angry: my brain had probably feared such a moment, which was why it had started functioning again when hearing her voice. I dropped my arm back to its natural position, my phone still in hand as I stared at my mother. "What happened?" she asked, looking surprised.

"... I've gotta go to Haru's house." With those words, I took my breakfast with my left hand and started running as fast as possible towards the front door.

Having reached it quickly due to my speed, I heard my mother from the kitchen, saying, "Hey, if it's anything serious, you better call me!" However, I ignored her words and simply opened the door while taking a bite out of my breakfast, somewhat in a state of panic. _There's just no way...!_

Fortunately, I had gone to Haru's house a few times, so I knew where it was. Without losing my fast pace, I ran towards it, afraid of what I would find. _I must have heard it wrong, I mean, it can't be...!_ Haru's house was very close to my own, so it didn't take long for me to reach it.

I stopped to catch my breath and took another bite out of my breakfast. From outside, nothing seemed to be happening in Haru's house, but that was what made it even more suspicious. I walked over to the door and knocked on it, still finding it awkward that I had to knock despite knowing how dangerous the situation was: after all, I didn't know how to or want to break down the door.

_I hope Haru's okay..._ Having to wait for a bit, I had calmed down considerably; the food also helped. _Why was she with Hibari anyway? And she never got to tell me whether Tsuna was around or not too..._ I doubted Tsuna would have gone to her house: Haru's reaction to such a thing was unimaginable. Once the door started opening, I made a serious expression: whatever it was that awaited me, I would probably be able to handle it… somewhat.

... If not for the sight that I had laid eyes upon when the door was fully open, I'd have surely thought that way, at least. "Ha-han?"

I screamed.

"I can see you are in high spirits today; that was quite the greeting," Kikyo remarked, having been the one to open the front door of Haru's house in his full glory. Somehow, he was completely unfazed with my reaction, wearing only an amused smile on his face. "Though, I'd advise you not to leave your house alone from now on: who knows what could happen to you otherwise?"

**. . .**

... I stared at him blankly. "Just... what exactly are you doing here...?" I managed to ask, ignoring his words completely.

"Ha-han? Welcoming you to this house, I suppose."_ But _why_ are you doing that?!_ If anything, it was already preposterous that Kikyo was in Haru's house, let alone opening the door for her. "Speaking of that, won't you come in? After all, I assume you came here for a reason."

Reluctantly, I walked in, still looking stunned. "I came here for..." Just from taking in the situation I was in, my purpose for even coming in the first place had been momentarily forgotten; it was that ridiculous. "I..."

Kikyo closed the door for me. "You came here to see your friend, correct? She is upstairs, in her room. Would you like me to guide you there?" _'Guide', as if he knew the house better than me..._ I weakly nodded anyway, figuring that he'd have to go with me even if I refused that offer. _If he's supposed to be near me at all times, why's he at this house?_

That was the most important question, and yet I had no idea of its answer: I just knew that somehow, Kikyo happened to be there. We started walking, Kikyo having most likely figured out I did know the layout of the house since he was following behind me instead of actually guiding me; I found that was for the best as well.

When we got upstairs, we found that the door to Haru's room was open. It was at the end of the hallway, so it wasn't like I could see what was inside it from my position; that intimidated me somewhat. As I hesitated to advance any further, Kikyo decided to go in front and basically led me through the hallway, our pace slow. _I guess this is where I get guided, huh..._

In a short amount of time, we got to Haru's room, and what I saw disturbed me: inside, Haru was on the floor, unconscious; Hibari was nowhere to be seen. Drawers of her closet were open and files were scattered about in the room: all of those contained information, I noted, as I nervously stepped in.

Somehow, this scene didn't make me freak as out as much as Kikyo's presence in the house had: had that been because Hibari biting others to death wasn't that unusual? With a worried expression, I crouched down near Haru. "Haru? Are you alright...?" I asked while poking her shoulder, hoping for some sort of reaction.

"She will probably remain like that for quite a while," Kikyo stated, "After all, it hasn't been long since she got done in by that unexpected visitor."_ So you really were there! Didn't you do anything to help her out?_ Maybe he was actually as indifferent to other people's problems as the other angels His Divine Presence had at His disposal.

... If that was the case, then he hid it really well. "What happened?" I turned to Kikyo, finding that Haru wasn't waking up at all.

"That boy who took care of yesterday's situation came by, requesting information about Squalo Superbi from her: since she did not have the information he wanted, she tried to search for it until you interrupted her with your call," Kikyo explained, "Due to that, he started attacking her, and that leads to now." _Hibari's really merciless, isn't he...?_

_But wait, he wanted information on Squalo?! Is it because he fought the guy...?_ He did seem thoroughly amused with Squalo, so perhaps he wanted to know of his whereabouts: he had lost him in his chase, I assumed. "I see..." I muttered, glancing at Haru. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you this, but..." I paused, unable to properly go ahead with my words.

"Ha-han? What is it?" Having picked up on how much I was hesitating, Kikyo urged me to speak, a curious look on his face as he smiled at me. _Can't you show even a bit of weakness...?!_ Probably not, I noted: how befitting of an angel.

Seriously, he was simply too reliable and polite and... _flawless;_ it made me uncomfortable. "Well..." _I have a feeling I won't like his answer..._ "Why were you here?" I awkwardly asked, grimacing at the memory of me being shocked at seeing him.

Who could blame me? Finding your Holy Protection in your friend's house was more than worrying: it was shocking, frightening even; His Divine Presence could be planning anything. "Ha-han, that would be because I live here, of course."

**. . .**

**. . .**

"You... you live... here? W-what?" Despite seemingly being the nicest out of the angels I'd come across, he somehow happened to also be the one that would shock me the most. "How...?!" _And why here?! Ugh, this guy is becoming more stressful than the actual incident I'm supposed to go through!_

If anything, perhaps_ Kikyo himself_ was the incident and I was getting tricked by His Divine Presence all along. "In exchange for information, your unconscious friend over there has persuaded her parents to let me stay here, though even I have no idea of what methods she used to do so; they didn't matter." _They kind of do: what if she gave you some weird backstory?_

Maybe he didn't really care about being misunderstood: he wasn't going to live there, or even on Earth permanently, so that made sense. "O-okay, but... Why here? Couldn't you have just stayed on another house, I mean, H-Haru is my friend! I wouldn't want her to be involved with my... problems." 'Problems' was a complete understatement since God was the one behind it all, but I didn't want to be rude to Kikyo and say the word I thought would best describe it.

Whatever the case, I didn't want the people I knew to be dragged down with me, so having Kikyo live in Haru's house unnerved me. "Rest assured: your friends will not know of anything you do not wish to say," Kikyo calmly said, "All the information I promised to give her will not include anything that would trouble you or your endeavors. Staying here is only for your convenience, after all: it was the closest residence you were aware of." _That kind of makes sense, but still..._ Just the thought of Haru having to interact with Kikyo made me uncomfortable: I didn't want him to earn her trust; he was not trustworthy.

In fact, nothing related to His Divine Presence was completely trustworthy to me. "I guess that's... alright." Despite that, I resigned to accepting that nothing could be changed at this point and sighed, saddened._ I hope nothing bad comes out of this..._ "Anyway, we should treat her or something; can you heal her...?"

"Ha-han? Heal her? That would be impossible; my flames have no such properties," he answered, still wearing a composed smile.

I gave him a confused look. "Flame?"_ Just what does that have to do with healing? Besides, why can Byakuran's angels only do offensive magic, or whatever it is that they do?!_ If anything, it seemed like my Holy Protection's only use was to fend others off from me; beyond that, Kikyo was also around to give me explanations... or so I had been told (even that was questionable).

"Well, let's put that aside for now: explaining that to you would not bring any benefits." I scowled. _That's what _you_ think!_ Or rather, that was what His Divine Presence thought: if anything, Kikyo was more of a spokesperson for His Divine Presence than my Holy Protection; he seemed to only relay what He wanted. "Whatever the case, I hear that Tsunayoshi Sawada and some of his companions are in the hospital: surely you'll want to see why."

... My eyes widened at his words and I immediately stood up from the crouched position I had before. "In the hospital?!"_ Did something actually happen to them while I was here?!_

"Indeed," he confirmed, "Would you like to go there?" I glanced at Haru, who already had experience with getting bitten to death; she could be alright... maybe. However, if Tsuna was in the hospital then something terrible had definitely happened, and there were high chances of the cause being a member of the Varia: they were already lucky they didn't die, as the Varia was a group of assassins. _But wait, how did Kikyo know this...?_

_... Actually, why did I ask, he has God on his side._ Even so, I found it strange that His Divine Presence had wanted to tell me such a thing: before, He had been so cryptic with telling me everything, but He was now being fairly straightforward and just making Kikyo tell me what He thought was appropriate. Really, Kikyo's role was more to guide me than to protect me, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. "Yeah," I immediately said anyway, worried about everyone.

Even if His Divine Presence had been unexpectedly straightforward, it was easy to assume that was because being like that had become convenient to Him: it didn't change the fact that Tsuna and the others were in the hospital. With an alarmed expression, I left Haru's room in a hurried pace, hearing Kikyo follow behind me calmly...

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

In the middle of the path to Nakayama Hospital, where Tsuna and the others apparently were, we (Kikyo and I) found two familiar people in the distance, going on the opposite direction. _Bianchi...?_ That tall woman supporting someone with her arm wrapped around his neck was definitely Bianchi, but her presence in general was just strange and confusing to me. _What is she doing here?_ Besides that, the other person with her was Gokudera, her little brother: he didn't look like he was in a good condition.

Bianchi also seemed to have spotted me, while Gokudera only groaned. "Hello there," she greeted with a somewhat apathetic expression. "Are you just taking a walk? If so, I think you'd like to know that Tsuna is at the hospital: Hayato and I just left a while ago since he got sick; it must've been the shock." She glanced at Hayato worriedly, but he only responded with a glare. _Now that I think about it, Gokudera gets sick when he sees her without goggles, huh..._

She wasn't wearing any, so the reason he was like that was definitely not shock. "The 'shock'? Did something bad happen?" I asked, wanting to at least know what she was referring to. Had Tsuna been so wounded that Gokudera freaked out? Anything could have happened, but none of the scenarios in my mind were positive. Kikyo seemed to have kept some distance from me, almost as if to make sure I wouldn't be associated with him and respecting my privacy; I found myself thankful for that.

_Bianchi's scary when you get on her bad side..._ I thought while reminding myself of her expression when spotting Lambo's future self and when she had seen me with Zakuro in Kokuyo. "Not at all; what made you get that idea?"_ I don't know, the fact that you were in a _hospital_?!_ "If anything, Hayato could probably cry tears of joy right now." Bianchi smiled at him but he only groaned loudly, clearly annoyed. "After all, he was appointed as Tsuna's Storm Guardian along with me, his big sister; could there be any better situation than that for him?"

**. . .**

"... I'm sorry, what?" I uttered as if I hadn't heard her properly, which I actually had; it was all just very hard to process for me. _Wait, so Bianchi and Gokudera are both the Storm Guardian? How does that even work, there's only one ring!_ That was when I noticed something dangling on their necks: they were both wearing a necklace with only a piece of what seemed to be a ring on it. _Is it just me or did they split the Half Vongola Ring in half? That's... kind of ironic, but I guess that's how it'd work._

Having only one of them possess the ring would be unfair, after all. _But Gokudera and Bianchi as Storm Guardians? They don't really seem like the stormy type..._ My gaze turned blank. _Actually, never mind, they're totally the stormy type._ Gokudera's emotions could be considered quite intense in a stormy manner, and Bianchi, while usually calm, could be just as intense too given the situation. _But then who's Rain? It can't be someone good, so..._ "Ah, now that I think about it, you wouldn't know what that means, would you? Well, you can just ask Tsuna when you see him," Bianchi said dismissively, "Goodbye."

With that, Bianchi and Gokudera started moving again, even passing by Kikyo with only a suspecting glance._ I'm so glad nothing happened this time..._ Had Bianchi only refrained from saying anything because Reborn had told her before that she didn't need to do so? That could've been the case, since Bianchi did happen to be in love with Reborn (even after knowing her for a while, _ew_).

I sighed. "Ha-han? Is something the matter?" Kikyo asked from behind me, making me slightly uncomfortable.

"Uh, not really," I awkwardly answered, "Let's just go."_ I hope Tsuna's alright; I bet he's shocked with all this Guardian business too..._ At least, I'd been surprised with it too, so I'd expect the same reaction from the normal one in the group. _But really, Gokudera and Bianchi? Why would that CEDEF organization thing choose them and not just Gokudera? Strange..._

_Besides, if Bianchi told me to get explanations from Tsuna, that means Tsuna is not in a very bad state, right?_ Even that was uncertain, since I wasn't sure how much she actually cared about Tsuna. "As you wish," Kikyo simply said, and we resumed walking in silence as I mulled over everything that I had found out so far...

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

Not a lot of time had passed before we arrived at the entrance of Nakayama Hospital, which didn't look like anything special from the outside as far as I could see: since this was Namimori, there were always chances of that hospital being very strange despite its appearance. With a worried frown, I entered the hospital, Kikyo following behind me. _Tsuna..._

... To my surprise, right when I entered, I laid eyes on just the person I was thinking about, Reborn near him. Beyond that, Dino of all people was also near Tsuna, along with Ryohei and a baby I didn't know who was wearing a blue pacifier that was far too similar to Reborn's to be a coincidence. "Uh..." I uttered, unsure of how to react to what I was seeing.

Ryohei was on the floor, and that unknown baby was near him with a determined look on his face; it was as if he had made Ryohei fall. They were all probably in the middle of something but when I came in, everyone focused their attention on me, making me be the one who had interrupted whatever mood there was in the room. "Ciaossu," Reborn greeted, breaking the ice, "Looks like you still have that bodyguard around."

"Y-yeah..." I answered and glanced at Kikyo, who seemed unfazed. _I'd ask about this situation but it's way too awkward now...!_ "Is... is everything alright?" Despite how nervous I was, I managed to let out that question, mostly directed at Tsuna: even so, it seemed like everyone was actually alright, as there were no injuries on them.

The only person who could be in trouble was Ryohei, whose expression indicated he was angry... to the extreme. "Not at all...!" Tsuna answered in a somewhat helpless manner, "That box the scary guy wanted had fake versions of these rings and in ten days, he'll figured that out and come for us; this is terrible!" _I... already knew that._

But then again, I wasn't supposed to know that, so his explanation was justifiable. _But wait, ten days specifically? That's something I didn't know, why didn't Byakuran want to tell me that?_ I could never understand His Divine Presence's thought process. "If you make the most out of that time and train, you'll have a chance," Reborn countered as I blankly gazed at his strange outfit: he was only wearing red shorts and a light blue, elephant-shaped hat; I had no idea what he was supposed to be.

"Hey, you hear that?!" The unknown baby asked Ryohei, pointing his huge gun at him, "I'd hate to agree with Reborn but he's right, see! Do you plan on sitting still and doing nothing, wasting your talents...?!" _I guess this baby is one of the Arcobaleno...?_ I barely remembered that term, so I had my doubts while thinking about it: as far as I knew, it was a group of expert baby assassins.

I didn't think I'd see another one, but perhaps I had been too naive: all sorts of trouble would always come to Tsuna, so it was natural that the other baby assassins would come his way as well. To my surprise, Ryohei stood up at amazingly fast speeds, an angered expression on him. **"No matter what you tell me, you won't convince me to the extreme!"** he shouted, his gaze fiery and determined, **"Math is what I extremely love now; I won't go back to that life!"**

"R-Ryohei-senpai...?" I uttered, confused at his words. If they hadn't caught me by surprise, I would've most likely pointed out just how ridiculous his love for Math was when he was so bad at it, but I knew he was dead serious... or rather, _extremely_ serious. _But, if he's here, does that mean he's a Guardian? If he is, then he's gotta be either Lightning or Sun: since I'm pretty sure Yamamoto's Sun, he's definitely Lightning._

Ryohei turned to Reborn and Tsuna with the same gaze. "I'm sorry, Sawada, Elder Pao Pao!" With that, he ran towards the hospital's exit, making Kikyo move me out of the way since I didn't have the appropriate reaction time to Ryohei's speed; he had left the building.

"Hey, wait!" the unknown baby shouted as the hawk that had been next to him grabbed the top of his head with its feet and started flying off, following Ryohei.

... I would've looked on in worry, if not for the strange name Ryohei used to refer to Reborn and that sight I had just taken in. _Elder... Pao Pao? Why would he...? And that bird..._ I shook my head, finding that I was better off leaving those issues aside for the time being. "It looks like things aren't gonna go so smoothly for _le Guardien du Soleil,_" Dino remarked, "As the Boss, you should take care of that, _mon junior._"

_Ga-Gardiah... I give up._ I honestly could not at all understand Dino whenever he spoke French, which was justifiable: it was him that needed to drop the random French words. "What?! Me?! I don't even want to be in this situation to begin with!" Tsuna protested, "C-can't you do anything about this, Dino-san?"

_"Désolé,_ Tsuna: due to the alliance I have with the Vongola, my hands are tied; I can't help you with that." Dino smiled confidently after saying that. "Instead, I'll be tutoring one of your _Guardiens;_ I heard he's quite the problem child. Speaking of that, I've gotta go do that right now; _au revoir!_" With a wave, Dino walked off, only to stop when he reached Kikyo and I, glancing at him with a serious expression; afterwards, he smiled at me. _"Malheureusement,_ it looks like I won't be able to train you, at least for now. Be careful, alright?"

... Seeing as he meant those words, I nodded, albeit weakly, and stared on as he left the hospital. _Wait, I don't wanna be trained, damn you!_ I thought as I realized that my actions could have been seen as me wanting Dino to train me; unfortunately, it was too late to do anything about it. "So," Reborn started, "what do you plan on doing now?"

He was directing his question at Kikyo and I, being the only ones left in the room besides Tsuna. For a while, there was silence as Kikyo apparently did not feel up to answering Reborn, making me have to do it. "I..." I uttered, thinking back on everything that I had found out: the conflict with the Varia and Tsuna, the whole Vongola Rings and Guardians thing, the fact that Bianchi and Gokudera were the Storm Guardians and Ryohei's mysterious words... "I'm not sure, but... I'll try to help!"

Reborn smirked. "Hmph, good to know," he said, "isn't it, No-Good Tsuna?"

"W-why did you have to ask me...?!" Tsuna countered, probably due to the fact that Reborn was acting strange (as always) rather than because he didn't like that I was offering my help. Despite that, to my surprise, he seemed thoughtful afterwards, and widened his eyes as if something had dawned on him. "W—"

"By the way," Reborn said, cutting Tsuna off, "what did you come here for?" _That's right, I don't actually have any reason to come here beyond having heard about it from Kikyo!_ And, of course, if I were to tell Reborn that, it would bring him one step closer to finding out my Holy Circumstances; I wasn't about to do that.

Kikyo stepped forward, smiling calmly. "Ha-han? Naturally, we came here to visit a certain someone," he answered, leaving no room for other arguments... despite the fact that he was lying. _Uh, no we didn't... What is he even talking about?_

Whatever the case, supporting that lie seemed like a better idea than to make myself look bad by contradicting him, so I said, "Y-yeah." _At least be convincing...!_ The fact that I was staring at Reborn nervously didn't help my case either.

"And who's that?" Reborn asked, somehow going along with it despite how badly I followed up Kikyo's words. _Actually, yeah, who the hell would I go visit now?_

Kikyo seemed unfazed at that question, as if having accounted for it. "That would be the boy who failed at fending Squalo Superbi off: since he apparently protected her as well, she is worried about his condition." _The boy who failed at fending Squalo off...?_

_Ah, that weird boy! Now that Kikyo mentions it, he did save me... and Kikyo totally wasn't there when that happened._ I right away knew he had gotten that information from His Divine Presence. "Y-you mean Basil-kun?" Tsuna questioned in a somewhat nervous manner.

"'Basil-kun'?" I uttered, "That's his name?" _What a weird name... he's probably Italian too._ Not that it surprised me since, as I was completely aware, Tsuna was involved with the Italian mafia.

Tsuna nodded. "Yeah. He's from this weird organization called the CEDEF, and got used as a scapegoat to give out the fake rings to the Varia." He cast his eyes on the floor, saddened to think about his own words. _With all the damage he took, I'm surprised he's even alive... not that I'd want him to die._

After all, he had saved me: I wouldn't want someone as nice as that to lose his life. "Well, if you're gonna visit him, you better hurry up before visiting hours end," Reborn said, "Tsuna and I were going to leave anyway." _He's letting me off the hook way too easily; how... _fishy_._

... Terrible jokes aside, I was right: Reborn was acting as if he weren't curious about my circumstances and goals when he had shown to want to know about them before; was it because Kikyo was around? I wasn't sure, but I knew he had ulterior motives. "H-huh? We were?" Tsuna reacted, only to be kicked in the face by Reborn. "Ow! Why did you have to do that...?!"

"Because you were thinking of slacking off," Reborn answered, "We have a lot to do, No-Good Tsuna; we can't waste time dawdling around here. Now, let's go." As if knowing Tsuna would follow him, Reborn started leaving, walking towards the door casually.

Tsuna stared at him blankly for a while before actually going after him, a nervous expression on his face. "W-wait, Reborn...!" As Reborn left, Tsuna did so as well, making me be alone with Kikyo.

We glanced at each other. "Shall we go?" Kikyo asked.

"Huh? Where?" I gave him a confused look, unsure of what exactly he was referring to.

_Are we going home, or somewhere else? And why would I want to go where he thinks I should be going?_ "Ha-han? Have you already forgotten? We were going to visit that boy," he answered as if it was obvious, leaving me even more confused. _Wait, you were serious?! I mean, I guess it wouldn't hurt, but..._

... I nodded, though with a blank gaze. "Uh, sure, we can do that..."

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

Still feeling somewhat awkward, I entered the room Basil was resting at with Kikyo beside me, taking hesitant steps towards him. _This is wrong on _so_ many levels..._ Visiting strangers in the hospital wasn't exactly the best of things to be doing, even if he had saved me.

"Who be thar? Sawada-san-sama?" I flinched, finding that Basil, who was on the only bed in the room, was awake, but looking in another direction.

... I considered turning back, but a very tall Kikyo was behind me and I was sure he'd use some sort of method to keep me in the room. "U-u-uh...!" I stammered, completely nervous: though Basil didn't look intimidating, I just found the situation to be too awkward to speak to him that well.

Basil immediately turned around when he heard my voice, most likely having figured out it wasn't 'Sawada-san-sama'. "You are...?" He seemed to be feeling just as awkward as I was when he spotted me, staring at me with his lone eye intently. "Ah, I kno! Your dat grill from before!" His eye(s) only widened slightly, but he at least seemed very surprised with seeing me. _Is he even saying he recognizes me? I'm not sure..._ "And your not alone... Why you be here?"

He was staring at me curiously, expecting an answer. "Well, I-I..." _Come on, he recognizes me! It can't be that awkward, even if he speaks so weirdly!_ "I came to visit you, since I heard you were admitted here."

He seemed surprised again. "IC..." _Uh, okay._ "You didn't have to, so why?"_ I feel like I'll get a headache from this guy's weird way of speaking... Seriously, who taught him Japanese?_

"You saved me back there when I was running away from that guy, so... I guess I wanted to thank you for that," I answered while looking to the side nervously.

Despite having made me come, Kikyo was simply standing nearby in silence, looking on with a smile. "NP; I only did what was obvs," he responded with a sheepish smile, "Thar be no need to thank me." _He's being humble...?_

_Maybe...?_ "Even so, uh... Thank you." I would've probably answered more confidently if Basil actually spoke properly, since that would make me have a clear idea of what he was saying: as he was, I couldn't help but have my doubts. Despite that, I tried to smile, wanting to at least let him know that I meant my words: he did try his hardest to protect Tsuna as well, and I could not condemn such effort.

... He gave me a kind smile and stared at me for a while, making me feel even more awkward than before due to the silence. However, I couldn't think badly of him for that since it was genuine: in a way, he reminded me of Yamamoto or Tsuna, both of them good people. "Your one of Sawada-san-sama's friends, rite?"

"Um, yeah," I answered, unsure of where he wanted to go with that topic. I found that Kikyo was leaning on a wall by glancing at him, most likely intending on doing nothing; his presence in the room felt pointless to me. _And really, what was the point of taking me here?_

Knowing His Divine Presence, He probably just found it interesting for some reason. "Den he gotta be as amaze as I heard," he said while nodding firmly, "I only met Sawada-san-sama yestrday and couldn't talk to him much, but I hope I can do dat soon." _Is he judging Tsuna based on his impression of me...?_ The fact that his response seemed positive made me somewhat embarrassed, so I glanced at Kikyo again to calm down.

"H-he didn't visit you today?" I asked. _Why did he even come to the hospital then?_ It surely wasn't so he could find out Gokudera and Bianchi were the Storm Guardians, as there were much better places for such announcements... maybe.

If all that Guardian business weren't so strange, I wouldn't have had any doubts. "Huh? No..." he muttered confusedly, probably finding it strange that I asked that question for seemingly no reason; he definitely wasn't lying. "Only Dino-san-sama and Colonello-san-sama came." _Colonello? Who's that...?_

I thought back on the people present in the entrance: Tsuna, Reborn, Dino, Ryohei and an unknown baby were there, and Bianchi and Gokudera had probably been there before as well. With that in mind, there was only one person I didn't know, so it was fairly easy to guess who Colonello happened to be. _That baby, huh..._ "I see..." While saying that, I noticed how similar that sounded to 'IC', something Basil had uttered before. _Don't tell me that's what he meant..._

**. . .**

_... Damn it, that's totally what he meant._ I grimaced. _Alright, I give up, I can't take it any longer._ "You know, you don't need to add two honorifics when referring to someone," I said, "It's actually weirder if you do that." _Not that I haven't seen some strange girl in my previous school do that for her teacher, but that's beside the point!_ Those people were probably aware it was wrong anyway; Basil wasn't.

To further prove that, he seemed genuinely surprised by my words. "Whut...? I no hear of dis from Swag-Master..." _S-swag-Master... I don't even want to know._ If he worked for the CEDEF, then his... _Master_ was most likely some higher-up from that organization; either that, or at least someone he respected.

Whatever the case, that person was probably a moron. "W-well, since he's from Italy, he must have had a different idea of the actual language; it can't be helped," I argued, wanting to believe the CEDEF was run by decent people. If anything, they were at least decent enough not to hand the rings over to the clearly dangerous Xanxus.

Basil tilted his head to the side in confusion. "But... he be Japanese, yo."

**. . .**

_... Yup, he's a moron._ Why were there Japanese people working in the Italian mafia to begin with? Besides, everyone I had met from the Vongola seemed strangely fluent in the language too: Basil had been the only exception so far. "Uh... Basil-san?" I called with a somewhat serious expression.

"Y-yus?" Picking up on that, Basil hesitated in speaking, giving me an expectant look: it was as if he had no idea of what would come next but really wanted to know, despite it clearly not being good news. Normally, I would refrain from getting involved in these sorts of matters, but the fact that he had no awareness of how wrong his speech was made me feel bad for him, so I found the need to at least say something.

I took a deep breath. Basil grew even tenser. "Just... How and what exactly were you taught by that person?" I asked, wanting to take everything slowly.

"I got told to check the interwebs," he answered, "speshully chats and the like; memes too." His words made everything click in my mind. "IMO, dey helped."

... I gazed at him sympathetically. _You poor, poor soul..._ The fact that he had told me that in such an innocent manner, as if he found nothing wrong with any of the things he had uttered, only made it worse.

I knew a bit of the simplified form used in chats: Satomi, my old friend, would use it all the time while texting; it was kind of obnoxious. To think someone would recommend that as if it were a Japanese textbook was awe-inducing in terrible ways; such was the nature of cruel pranks. "I-is sumthing wrong?"

"Um, well, how do I put this..." I muttered, trying to find a way to say everything without hurting his feelings. "You should probably learn from other sources, uh, you know, b-broaden your horizons and all that: preferably, pick up a textbook, or something more... _correct._" _I bet he thought he was using a dialect or something like that, ugh..._

If anything, I could understand him just as much as I could understand a very strange dialect spoken really fast, which made for at least one similarity to those. "Does dat mean I learned from an incorrect source...?"

"Precisely," I immediately said, already aware of the fact that I had failed not to make him somewhat sad at that revelation. _Why did I have to be the one to point this out? Couldn't Dino have said anything if he's visited him?_

... Actually, he would not have minded that, seeing as he would randomly insert French words in his speech: he'd have most likely considered Basil's weird way of speaking the same thing.

**. . .**

Basil, after staring at me and afterwards, at his bed, spoke calmly, "I don't think you be lying, but I'll have to check with my Swag-Master about dat." _It's impossible not to cringe at... Swag-Master..._ He turned to me again with an apologetic frown. "Plz don't take dis the wrong way..."

His... _Master_ was a very important existence to Basil, I noted: he probably trusted him that much; it made me feel worse for him. "Don't worry about that," I said, "I understand." _Somewhat,_ I wanted to add, but refrained from doing so. I smiled at Basil in an attempt to reassure him, and it seemed to have worked since Basil managed a small smile himself.

**. . .**

"BTW," he curiously said, stopping the silence we were creating by staring at each other, "who be dat with you? He's been here all dis time..." He shifted his attention to Kikyo, who was still leaning on a wall.

However, from that question, Kikyo immediately focused on him as well, still wearing a composed smile. "Ha-han? I am but a mere bodyguard or assistant of sorts to her; don't mind me."_ It's a bit impossible to ignore your presence when you're so showy, you know?_ He did wear eyeliner, after all, and was fairly tall.

"A-a bodyguard?" Basil uttered, seemingly surprised, "IC... You must be an important figure." _Of course you also have to misunderstand, huh..._ I shouldn't have been surprised since people with bodyguards were usually important, but I just happened to be blessed by God with Holy Protection... if that could even be considered a 'blessing' in the first place.

I shook my head. "No, n-not at all! It's... complicated." It wasn't just 'complicated', but I definitely wasn't going to tell him about His Divine Presence and how, for some reason, He wanted me not to die; besides, not even I knew all about that situation. "Anyway, it's nice to see that you're doing okay and, um, sorry for showing up abruptly like this; you probably felt uncomfortable with that."

Figuring there wasn't much else to say to someone I didn't even know that well, I decided I was better off leaving the hospital and him to rest; he was probably still in a bad condition. "Huh? Dat no be true! I'm happy dat you visited me; I didn't think I'd get visitors other dan Dino-san-sama and Colonello-san-sama..." Basil chuckled nervously, looking to the side. "So, well, C ya later? I hope..."

I smiled. "Sure," I responded, "See you later." Afterwards, I bowed slightly, turned around and started walking off, Kikyo following behind me. _I really wonder why Tsuna was here if he didn't go visit Basil... Besides, he protected him yesterday: the least Tsuna could do is visit him. I bet it's lonely being in a hospital like that, especially with his injuries.._. Luckily, I had never needed to be admitted to a hospital, so I didn't get to experience that._ I should tell Tsuna about this; he should go visit Basil._

I nodded to myself, deep in thought. _Yeah, I should... it's kind of intrusive, but I might as well: Basil seems to respect Tsuna for some reason, so he'd be happy._ After having concluded that, something, or someone else had popped to mind: Ryohei. _He didn't seem so well, and that's an understatement; I don't think I've ever seen him like that: it was... _extreme,_ I guess._ My gaze darkened just from reminding myself of how he stormed out of the hospital with those cryptic words. _What was he even talking about? In the end, what is Math to him if it's that important?_

I felt curious but, above all else, worried: the Varia was coming, and they'd most likely try to kill all Guardians, Ryohei included. As far as I had deducted from Reborn's words, they were all going to train so as to have a chance against them, but Ryohei didn't seem that willing: why? He looked like the type to want to do such things, and he'd always be doing morning jogs and the like; I'd run into him sometimes while taking a walk. _Would Kyoko know, or would I have to ask him directly? I wouldn't want to pry that much into his life but I wouldn't want him to suffer either, especially when he's got so much ahead of him from this weird incident. So—_

"Well then," Kikyo started, interrupting my train of thought, "what will your next course of action be?" We both stopped in our tracks._ Now you want me to decide? Just after you got me to go to the hospital?_ Noticing his expectant gaze, it was hard not to take that as a 'yes'. _I guess it doesn't matter, huh..._

After all, I did know what I was going to do. Staring straight at Kikyo's eyes with a determined expression, I uttered, "I'm going to find out more about Ryohei-senpai."

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

**Dino Glossary:**

Le Guardien du Soleil - The Sun Guardian

Désolé - Sorry

Guardiens – Guardians

Au revoir - Goodbye

Malheureusement - Unfortunately

**Basil Glossary:**

Grill - Girl, in the most meme-tastic way possible

IC - I see

NP - No problem

Obvs - Obvious

Rite - Right; a lot of words are incorrectly written, like this one

IMO - In my opinion

Plz - Please

And there's your abrupt ending, in its full glory! Honestly, you should've seen one coming, since these chapters get way too long and need to end at some point: when this story has a plot to follow, it can have really extensive chapters... or so I found out. There's just so much meat to shove in them, I can't help it! Even so, I think it was kind of intense: it's nice seeing that Observer-chan has grown to care about Tsuna and the others to the point that she'll try to help them out like that.

As you can see, the cannon is slowly destroying itself: Bianchi and Gokudera became a Storm Guardian duo! Gokudera _so_ wants to kill me right now for that XD Also, there's something up with Ryohei! What might that be...? Ah, I always find it amazing when I can tie in the quirks I added to the characters to the plot or their backstory, kind of like what I did with Mukuro; it was hilarious, right? At least, that's how I feel about it, and still feel it now XD

But also, omg Kikyo is living in Haru's house, yes! I... don't know what kind of odd duo I've just created: the Kikyo/Haru dynamic gives possibly the strangest mental image ever for me; it's like making Kyoko and Zakuro interact or something XD Speaking of that, she did ask about Zakuro in this fic, so oh no what have I done yet again, plz no Kyoko/Zakuro dynamic! It'll be so weird! Honestly, I support the Observer-chan/Zakuro (Observer-chan/Byakuran too) dynamic: they work well off each other, to my surprise.

Did you know that originally, I thought Observer-chan was going to really like Kikyo, as in, she'd really get along with the guy? This turned out to be impossible due to how flawless she thinks he is: he's so perfect (in her mind) it makes her uncomfortable. So yeah, ironically, she's awkward around him rather than getting along, and went as far as to say 'Perhaps Kikyo himself is the incident I have to deal with' since he's been making her freak out way too much XDD

Also, Basil. OMG Basil, what have I done to you. It goes far beyond chatspeak and/or memes: it's like it's its own thing... Basil-speak? I don't know, but it just makes me cringe so hard: I laughed while reading it aloud, I really did. His way of speaking also makes it extremely hard for me to get him in-character, since chatspeak directly contradicts his polite personality: either way, I tried my best! I made Observer-chan and Basil have a moment because I knew they wouldn't get any other chance to talk: Basil doesn't appear that often throughout the show, especially when everything is in Observer-chan's perspective.

... In other words, Byakuran (Kikyo) is the story's number 1 plot device ^^' Now that I think about it, I should really write more Shouichi, since he barely shows up too: I mean, as you already know, they keep in touch, but you haven't seen much of this lately; it was mentioned in Chapter 66, I guess. Beyond that, I also gotta make Hana show up somehow, since I miss writing her: even so, it's pretty hard since KHR really likes leaving Hana out of everything. I'll try to get a chance to write these two...?

I feel kind of nervous about this chapter since I'm deviating so much from cannon that I may be digging my own grave: hopefully that won't happen. I mean, I've been winging it ever since chapter 1, so surely I can still do that here... right? And yeah, now you know: I'm always improvising (actually, I'm pretty sure you already knew). I have plans on my head, but I usually go with the flow and use those plans as guidelines instead.

Whatever the case, look forward to the next chapter? There'll be Ryohei on it, at least!


	68. Chapter 62

**First Words:**

* * *

**Guest - It just had to be Swag-Master, to be honest XD I mean, YOLO, right? God, I'm so looking forward to Iemitsu... It's not that Ghost doesn't show up, it's that he doesn't exist here: originally, Ghost was Byakuran from another parallel world, so I figured this one just wouldn't have Ghost in it since Byakuran probably only tested that out with one parallel world. Fun fact though, one of the reasons I wanted Observer-chan to have Lightning Flames at first was because I was considering giving her Ghost's position; in the end, I thought Cloud Flames fit her better ^^ I can't be sure whether Observer-chan will get along with Daisy or not: I mean, I at first thought Observer-chan was going to like Kikyo and _that_ didn't happen. Observer-chan kind of dislikes all Funeral Wreaths in different ways, but she doesn't truly hate them, I guess; she doesn't have one she likes the most either (though I personally very much support Observer-chan/Zakuro friendship ^^'). Honestly, with Bianchi and Gokudera vs. Belphegor, I'm just gonna improvise in the same way I made up a fight between them and Ken in the middle of the Kokuyo arc: so yeah, both will fight; Belphegor can handle it ^^ The 'GET REKT' moment must be a thing! I'll try to make it happen somewhere! **

**L's Cappuccino - Indeed he is; he couldn't even speak! XD **

**Collegegirl - I feel the same way, don't worry ^^' In the same way he most likely taught Basil old Japanese in the original series, Iemitsu taught him the best kind of Japanese in here because YOLO, yo! Kyoko will not be a Guardian because I want Chrome to be around, but she will have a role in the arc: this chapter kind of hints at that ^^ The Varia arc is basically the character development arc, so I couldn't just _not_ take advantage of that. Seeing as Observer-chan has no idea that the Ring Matches will happen, I've got to agree with you there: she never has any idea of what she gets into, does she? ^^'**

This story got 1 favorite and 2 followers while I was managing two stories, thank you! Yeah, speaking of that, I kind of have this new story about Mammon becoming Tsuna's home tutor... I'm gonna drown in story ideas, plz save me X.X Also, I'm slightly disappointed no one said anything about Kikyo and Haru under the same roof: am I truly the only one who finds that amazingly strange? I cannot easily imagine those two interacting and when I do, it's kind of weird.

Either way, I worked on this chapter a whole lot too and, as you can notice, it's super long: it was only supposed to be about Ryohei, but then... Whatever, I guess you're already used to this, huh? ;_; This chapter involved a bunch of characters, so that was fun. Not only that, but this chapter actually has a few serious moments, which is pretty amazing coming from this story: enjoy? Within silliness, there must be a moment of actually serious stuff, I guess.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Colonello actually has yet to ask for permission to stay in the Sasagawa residence; he just barged in. Really, if Observer-chan hadn't done all that talking in this chapter, he could've been kicked out (since he was taken in, in canon, because he was training Ryohei);**

**\- Tsuna was planning on talking to Ryohei too because he was worried about him, but he then realized he had no idea of where he'd be at either... He then decided to check on Gokudera instead, also being worried about the guy (he did this while this chapter was happening, by the way).**

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 62: Literally Flying Back and Forth for Ryohei**

* * *

Kikyo and I were already far away from the hospital, having one destination in mind: Kyoko's house. I knew of it since I had come there before, and it was the only location I could associate with Ryohei beyond Namimori Middle School. Besides, even if he wasn't there, Kyoko could be, so I could ask her about it instead of going up to him directly: since she was his sister, she would surely know something.

Kikyo made no comments about my decision and gave me no information that could help me with it; I was on my own. I wasn't sure why His Divine Presence wanted me to waste time now instead of being straightforward again, but I wasn't complaining either: at least I wasn't being controlled, made to go somewhere and act in a certain way.

As we got closer to Kyoko's house, I started thinking of things to say if I were to encounter Ryohei there: while we were in good terms, we weren't the closest, especially in comparison to someone like Tsuna. When he wasn't trying to make me join the Math Club, I could tolerate speaking to him despite his noisiness, and he was a really honest and hard-working person with a lot of energy: I couldn't hate that, even if he wasn't very intelligent; Yamamoto wasn't either.

Having reached the front door, I knocked on it, unsure of what to expect: would Kyoko answer? Would Ryohei answer? I felt nervous just thinking about it. To my surprise, the door opened right away, but I saw nothing in front of me. _What is this, a horror movie...?_

_An illusion..?!_ "He is below your line of sight; over there," Kikyo said, pointing down; I raised an eyebrow at him. _Below?_

"Exactly, see!" I flinched at the sudden loud voice originating from nearby, immediately looking down as I did so. To my surprise, Colonello, that unknown baby from the hospital, was there as if he had been the one to open the door.

My gaze turned blank. _He was totally the one who opened the door, wasn't he...?_ "H-hello," I greeted hesitantly, finding the fact that he was in Kyoko's house a bit too strange for me. _Why?! Does he live here or something like Kikyo with Haru?!_

_... Seriously, everyone should just stop barging into my friends' houses._ "Hmph, you're that girl who showed up at the hospital, huh? Hey, what's your business here?" _He's asking that as if he lived there, ugh..._ At least it proved that my assumption, which I had only taken lightly at first, was correct; it didn't make me feel very good.

"Well, uh, I came because I want to speak with Ryohei-senpai," I said, "Is he home?" _Why do I have to justify myself to this baby anyway?_ I couldn't help but frown at this turn of events: at the very least, I wanted Kyoko to answer the door.

Instead, I had a strange baby do that, one that probably wouldn't help me. "Not at all, see. Why do you wanna speak with him? You were there; he's not in the mood for that." He had a somewhat serious expression on his face as he said that, as if looking back on something: it was, I assumed, probably Ryohei's words, the ones I wanted to decipher. "He won't listen to anyone in the state he's in, see, so it's pointless. What's it to you anyway? Hey, are you a friend of his? You seemed familiar with everyone in the hospital."

"Yes, something like that," I answered, frowning at the thought of what I was going to say next, "I've... never seen Ryohei-senpai like that, and I want to know why; I've got to help somehow. After all, if he goes on like that, things won't turn out well for him, will they? He'll be... to the Varia..." Even if I wasn't as close to him as I was to Tsuna or Kyoko, I didn't want him to suffer for more reasons than just due to my general empathy for others: he was also somewhat of a good friend of mine... or so a bigger part of me believed.

The other, much smaller part, the one desperate to keep those walls in place, hesitated: something just wasn't... right about me feeling that way; Ryohei was too strange, it reasoned. Besides, out of Tsuna's group, he was the one I'd talk to the least; I'd even have more conversations with Gokudera than him. My hands crumpled into fists, wanting to fight that adversity: it wasn't fair to think of Ryohei like that when he had done nothing wrong to me. He might've sometimes annoyed me, but that didn't mean he wasn't a good person and that I couldn't be around him at all, or that I wouldn't have fun in his presence: if so, then what was wrong?

... I didn't know, so I completely threw that aside for the time being as I did care about Ryohei enough to want to help him, and I did like him as a friend; that much was at least true. My eyes carrying a saddened glint to them, I looked down at Colonello, who was smirking. "I see," he muttered, "If you're that serious about it, you can go for it, see. Unfortunately, I have no idea where that guy went so you'll have to look for him yourself." I sighed. _I guess this trip was for nothing, huh..._

"Um, how about Kyoko-chan, you know, Ryohei-senpai's sister? Do you have any idea of where she would be?" I asked, hoping that he'd at least know enough to tell me that: he did live in their house, after all. _But, if Ryohei's not around, I wonder where he's at; I hope it's not a dangerous place..._

Supposedly, the Varia was only going to return in 10 days, but I didn't want to let my guard down because of that and let something terrible slip by me. "Kyoko? Hey, she's at school, I guess; where else would she be at this hour?" He scratched his head, somewhat confused with my question. "Speaking of that, don't you have school? You may be taller, but you're wearing the same uniform so you gotta be a student from the same school as her, see."

**. . .**

**. . .**

"Ah," I merely uttered. _I totally forgot about school with all this Varia business going on, damn it!_ My mother would surely scold me if she were to find out, especially with the way I had left the house; I didn't even want to think about that. _But wait, wasn't everyone also skipping? I guess that's understandable because of this weird incident; school can't be a priority when assassins are after them._ "T-that's right..."

_... Meanwhile, I don't have much of an excuse: I'm not completely involved._ However, I wasn't just going to do nothing when everyone was in clear danger: I wanted to help them, even if I probably couldn't provide them with that much help; I... just wanted to, really._ I'm a mess..._ In one moment, I'd think about how there was something wrong, while on the next, I was clearly showing I cared about them: I did, and I did think they were my friends as well, but... they were all strange and I was... normal; was it _really_ alright?

Despite that, I was sure that I wanted to do something for them, even if something was supposedly wrong: I'd figure it out later. "Hmph, you forgot? Huh, that's just pathetic!" _Why do I have to be insulted by a baby?_ If he were in an emergency situation, I could bet he'd commit the same mistake as me. "Anyway, now that you know where to look for at least one of them, you and your bodyguard should get going now." My eyes widened at the fact that he had mentioned Kikyo, who had been completely silent throughout the conversation. "Hey, since you're that determined, Ryohei Sasagawa'd better be begging at my feet to be trained by me at the end of the day!"

With those words and a smirk, Colonello closed the door on Kikyo and I, making me notice the fact that I hadn't gotten to enter the house at all. I stood there for a while, staring at the door blankly.

**. . .**

_... That bastard!_ Finally, I had reacted to what had happened in my mind, finding that literally nothing had been accomplished by going to Kyoko's house; I shifted my attention to Kikyo. "Well, now that you've been here, what will your course of action be?" he asked, still smiling calmly at me.

"Uh..." I gave that some thought, wondering whether it would be alright to come to school, but not attend classes. "I'm not sure: I can't just go to school to talk to Kyoko-chan..." _If I show up while classes are in session, it'd be impossible to do that too..._

If I were to just barge in the classroom and get punished, my mother would probably get even angrier at me; I definitely didn't want to risk that. "Ha-han, Kyoko Sasagawa is not actually at school right now, so that should not be a problem." _Not at school...?_

"Y-you mean, she didn't go to school? Where is she, then?" _Did she place an illusion of herself there or something?_ That seemed so plausible that I didn't even bother giving said question an answer. _But why? It's not like she usually does that..._

_... Right?_ At least, I wanted to think so, but I had no proof: if anything, since she'd be aware of what happened in school, she was probably physically there, I assumed; otherwise, she wouldn't know since she wouldn't have watched it in the first place. "If you want to know, how about you call her? Surely you'll find out if you ask her directly," he answered vaguely. _Damn it, this is Byakuran's fault again, isn't it?_

With an annoyed glare, I took out my cellphone, finding that I had no choice but to comply with Kikyo; I had no other leads, after all. After dialing her number, I put the phone against my ear, hoping this call wouldn't result in the same events as Haru's.

**. . .**

**. . .**

**. . .**

"Hello?" I was immediately relieved at that innocent tone in Kyoko's voice, indicating she was perfectly fine and that nothing strange was happening to her. _I mean, nothing strange beyond a baby assassin living in her house but I think she'd already know that..._

However, if she had been able to answer the phone, it was very likely that she wasn't at school, making Kikyo's statement true. "Uh, hey, Kyoko-chan? Are you busy right now? It's just... it would be really convenient if you could talk to me; it's something important."_ I bet she'd be worried too, if her brother was going suffer_. "I mean, if you can't, it's alright but, you know..."

"Hmm? Something important? What is it?" she asked, seemingly curious about it.

I grimaced. "Well, it's... it's about Ryohei-senpai." Having to say that to Kyoko made me feel terrible as I was completely aware of how much she cared about him as his sister: it was like telling someone's parents that their son had died (but not as tragic); it wasn't something one could announce without hesitation.

"About Onii-chan...?" My grimace became even more contorted just from hearing her surprised tone, unsure of whether to go on with the conversation or just shrug it off and search randomly for Ryohei. "Did something happen to him?"

_Maybe I shouldn't have followed Kikyo's suggestion..._ "I guess you could say that," I answered, knowing that my words were vague, "I mean, it's just that I heard some things from him and I thought you'd be able to tell me more about them since you're his little sister."

"What things? If you think it's that important, it must be something serious; is everything really alright?" Although her questions were understandable since she had every right to be worried, I couldn't help but feel pressured by them knowing that I'd have to say unpleasant things by phone to Kyoko.

Due to that, I couldn't form a very good answer in my mind, and ended up saying, "C-can we just... meet up somewhere?" I cursed myself for having done that, as it was rude to simply expect others to meet up with me whenever I wanted: even so, it was an emergency, I reasoned in an attempt to comfort myself.

... It was partially working, but I still felt somewhat bad. "Hmmm... I'd do that but I'm not really in Namimori right now so it'd take some time for me to go to you," she answered, seemingly thoughtful. _Not in Namimori...?_ I questioned in my mind, a confused expression on my face. _Where would she be besides Namimori?_

"Tell her we can go to her instead," Kikyo suddenly spoke up, "If we go to her location, we won't take nearly as much time as she would." I turned to him with a perplexed look, processing what he had told me.

_How can you say that...?_ "Uh, what?" I uttered, leaning towards not doing what Kikyo was saying (like most normal people would).

"Is something wrong?" I flinched at the fact Kyoko had answered that instead of Kikyo. _Damn it, I'm on the phone!_

_I mean, come on, it's basic etiquette not to talk to someone while they're on the phone! He'd know that, he's been polite all this time!_ Beyond making me freak out, he did act in a mostly polite manner. "Oh, no, I wasn't talking to you, I'm sorry!" I immediately said, but couldn't help but blankly stare at Kikyo; his expectant gaze was making me very uncomfortable. "Um..."_ I'm gonna have to say it, won't I? Ugh..._ "A-anyway, I can... come over to you, I guess."

_Damn you, Kikyo...!_ "You can? Are you sure? I'm not that far from Namimori, but I wouldn't want you to push yourself," Kyoko said, sounding somewhat worried.

"Apparently, I can get there really fast, so you don't have to worry." If anything, I was the one who had to worry since everything was in Kikyo's hands: if he turned out to be lying, I'd be doomed.

Even so, it didn't make much sense for him to be lying since he was working for His Divine Presence: he probably thought it'd be better for Him if he were to tell me that, but I had no idea as to why that would be. "Well, if you say so..." she muttered thoughtfully. "I guess I'll see you here then!" Before I could say anything to that cheerful remark, Kyoko hung up on me.

... I had a feeling I had just experienced that a while ago, and from a completely different person. _That baby and the Sasagawa family might be way more similar than I thought..._ Since Kyoko and Ryohei already looked like they weren't related to begin with, perhaps Colonello was also some sort of family member? _Nah..._ I carelessly dismissed, finding that hypothesis too stupid to be true. "So, uh, how do you plan on going to Kyoko-chan?"

_I mean, I don't even know where she is!_ Kyoko had completely forgotten to tell me the most important piece of information somehow, but that didn't even surprise me. However, while I'd usually call again to get it, I now had Kikyo with me, and I was sure he knew her location. "Ha-han?" He stepped closer to me, making me step back; he didn't stop moving towards me despite that. _I have a bad feeling about— _"Like this, I suppose?"

Suddenly, I was lifted off the ground. **"WAAAAH!"** Completely startled, I screamed, noticing that the only thing I could see when looking forward, which was up in the position I was, was Kikyo. "W-w-wh-what are you_—_ What_—_" Not only that, but I could feel we were moving... upward? I looked down.

... We were flying. _**"AAAAAAAAAH..."**_

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

_**"... AAAAAAAAAAAH!"**_ Before I knew it, we had arrived at our destination... whatever it happened to be.

Already standing on the ground, Kikyo let me go, leaving me to recover balance in my legs before sighing in relief. _Land...!_ I had never felt so glad to be stepping on firm ground before, but that was completely justifiable. "Have you calmed down?" I answered his question with a glare, the memory of me being carried by him whilst flying at great speeds still fresh in my mind. "Ha-han? It seems like you aren't in a good mood: while I did catch you off guard, you must understand that this was all for your sake; you wouldn't have been able to accomplish your goals without this," he said, still wearing a composed smile; that was starting to piss me off.

_Besides, _now_ you care about my goals? What the hell is going on in Byakuran's mind?!_ God was far too complex for me, I noted. _And you could've totally just warned me when you didn't do that at all, argh; damned angels!_ However, as I thought about it, I would've most likely denied Kikyo's suggestion if I knew it involved me flying around: even so, I didn't want to be surprised in such a way. _Why is this guy so full of surprises anyway...?_ "I get it," I ended up saying, finding it pointless to argue with someone like Kikyo.

In general, attempting to argue with someone who was practically flawless wouldn't lead you anywhere. "Ha-han, then there is nothing else to discuss: your friend is expecting you, after all." _Ah, Kyoko!_ Due to having been so stunned, I had forgotten why I had to go through all that in the first place. Finding that Kikyo was pointing somewhere, I turned to that with a curious expression, only for my eyes to widen in shock.

"K-Kokuyo Land?!" _We're in Kokuyo?! Why are we in Kokuyo?!_ "Kyoko-chan... is in there?!" The traumatic memories were threatening to resurface, making me take a few steps back. _I'm not going back there! Besides, there's just no way she'd be there!_

Even if she was somewhat unpredictable, there was literally no reason for her to be wandering around in Kokuyo of all places, at least not any discernible reason. "Well, you can only be sure of that if you go there, no?" _You're being vague again?! Can't you just stick to being helpful instead of alternating between that and being useless?!_ At least Zakuro and Bluebell were consistently useless, which made me have no expectations for them.

Meanwhile, Kikyo would frustrate me to no end. "Alright..." I begrudgingly muttered as I started walking, knowing Kikyo would follow me. At least, since I had Holy Protection with me, it was unlikely that I'd get into any danger: besides, Mukuro, Chikusa and Ken were gone. Even so, the trauma was hard to ignore as my hands shook in fear of any possible encounter with people I did not want to meet; Kikyo remained silent.

As I reached the gates to Kokuyo Land, my eyes widened. _They're... open?_ The last time (and only time) I had been there, the gates were closed and locked, making it even more obvious that the building was abandoned. However, for some reason, they were now open, as if there was a need to freely traverse them. _No way..._

**"Ah!"** At a sudden loud voice coming from Kokuyo Land, I flinched and glanced at Kikyo alarmingly. _No way...!_ The worst part about getting startled in such a way was the fact that I recognized that voice, though I hadn't heard it in months: the events that transpired involving it had been the source of my trauma, after all. "Of all people you could've went to see, it was this woman?!"

... Hesitantly, I turned to where I had heard that voice, hoping that I was merely confusing things. "Y-you..." I muttered, a visibly displeased expression on my face. It was already amazing that I was reacting in such a way since the person I was looking at was supposed to have been locked up somewhere, not... walking towards me with Kyoko and Chikusa (who should have also been locked up somewhere).

Surely, if this day hadn't shocked me so much, I would have expressed a much more extreme reaction at seeing Ken, Chikusa and _Kyoko_ of all people, together; it was a scary sight. "You really got here right away, just like you said!" Kyoko exclaimed in admiration; I glanced at Kikyo again. _Is this an illusion or something? Please let it be an illusion..._ "But, who's that with you? Another bodyguard of yours? He does have the same uniform..."

She stared at Kikyo curiously for a while before being interrupted by Ken, "Tch, you've got another one of those, huh?" He was glaring at Kikyo, most likely reminding himself of how much Bluebell kicked his ass. "You better not cause any trouble for us, ya hear me?!"

"Ha-han, I wouldn't dream of it," Kikyo simply responded, completely unfazed by Ken's rudeness. "Unless you cause trouble on her end, that is." _I kind of feel bad for Ken... kind of._ I could not imagine Kikyo losing any argument, not even against my mother which was truly amazing. Was it because he was an angel?

Even then, His Divine Presence didn't possess the same amazing qualities Kikyo did. _But He never does lose an argument too..._ However, that wasn't because He was amazingly flawless like Kikyo, it was because He was amazingly creepy... and annoying. I reminded myself of Him telling me about spouting blasphemies, and I found that I really had no choice: if someone had that kind of God, it would be impossible not to curse His name. "Hmph, arrogant bastard..." Ken muttered, still glaring at Kikyo, "Just get your business over with, Kyoko! I can't stand the sight of this woman!"

_Referring to her by first name...!_ I thought in horror, since he was implying he knew her well... or he was just that rude; I hoped it was the latter for once in my life. Ken had also showed how much he hated my guts, but I was honestly not surprised: I did try to ruin Mukuro's plans a bunch of times (with good reason), after all; he wouldn't be happy with that for sure. Besides, I also didn't like the bastard: he hurt my arm! It hadn't been a light scratch either; it was a damned deep wound. I had to bear with the pain of not stretching my arm for five days! _But wait, if these two are apparently here, then..._

... I dreaded to even assume Mukuro Rokudo was roaming around freely, or even in a close proximity to where I was standing. "Well, alright," Kyoko said and nodded, giving them a small smile as if attempting to lighten up the mood. _I don't think you've got your priorities straight here..._ She was next to Ken and Chikusa as if they knew each other like that: perhaps, it wasn't even a matter of priorities... _Seriously, why the hell are they together, this is a really big deal!_

Kyoko stepped towards me, while I was still staring at Ken and Chikusa; I couldn't just let my guard down on them. Besides, as far as I knew, Mukuro could be around... "We're going... now?" I asked, nervous at the fact that I was saying something in front of such dangerous people, even if they seemed like they weren't going to do anything for the time being.

"Ah, wait." To my surprise, Chikusa uttered that in a fairly bored tone, making Kyoko turn around and me focusing my cautious stare on him. "You." He wasn't pointing at anyone, so I gave him a confused look: was he talking to Kyoko?_ It can't be me, right?_ Kyoko pointed at herself with a curious expression on her face, as if wanting to confirm that as well. "Not you, Kyoko, I mean her." I paled.

_Why...?!_ "Kaki-pi, why the hell do you wanna talk to that woman?! We've got no business with someone like her!" Ken voiced the question in my mind (albeit in a rude manner), seemingly surprised; even he didn't know why. _I hope it's nothing bad..._ I glanced at Kikyo: at such times, I wished he was Zakuro and understood exactly what I wanted, which was to leave the area with Kyoko already.

... However, if he had truly been Zakuro, he would've done nothing so it would've most likely backfired instead. _Why is my Holy Protection so unreliable...?_ Kikyo was reliable only at certain times, while all the others I had met weren't reliable at all. "Shut up, Ken; you're loud," Chikusa simply countered with no changes in his tone of voice, "Anyway..." I gulped. "Come here tomorrow too: I'd have given you that today but I didn't know you were coming before, and going back to get the thing just to give it to you is too troublesome."

Admittedly, I had some difficulty processing his disinterested-sounding explanation. _You want me to... come here again? There's no way I'd ever do something as suicidal as that! I mean, I have Holy Protection, but it's still pretty risky! Besides, what's 'that' anyway? I'm not about to accept something from someone like you!_ Sure, I had healed his wounds, but that wasn't because I thought he was a good person: it was because I was too much of a good person to leave him to die; there was a difference. "What, you're still hung up on that?" Ken frowned at Chikusa, his words confusing me further. "Just burn the thing or something, you don't have to actually bother with this! I don't want this woman anywhere near Kokuyo Land anymore either."

_At least we agree on something, I guess._ Though, if anything, it made me more depressed that the guy who wounded me was the one supporting my stance of wanting to never step foot on Kokuyo Land ever again: I didn't want someone like him to ever be on my side.

... That in itself mirrored his thoughts about me. _Why are the only people that share my thoughts the evil or unlikable ones?_ First it was Zakuro, then it was Squalo of all people, and now it just happened to be Ken: who was next? I did not even want to know. _Does that mean I'm unlikable...?_ I had friends...! In fact, I still did...!_ I can't be that bad: I'm polite!_ Politeness was a good trait... even if only outwardly shown: admittedly, my mind wasn't as polite. _Damn it!_ "That's just what you think," Chikusa said, still unfazed. _Seriously, what's this guy's deal anyway?_

As far as I could tell, he wanted to give me something, but what was it? After uttering those words to Ken, Chikusa turned to me and just stared... and stared; he was expecting an answer, I noted. Was it because it was 'too troublesome' to ask for a confirmation of whether I'd come or not? Since that had been his reasoning for not getting whatever it was that he wanted to give me at the time, it wasn't so unlikely. "Uh..." _Isn't it obvious though?_ "I refuse...?"

"Why?" he immediately questioned. _You're seriously asking me that?_ "Isn't that thing important? I thought you'd want it back." _What thing?!_ I stared at him confusedly, hoping that maybe that alone would make him realize how much I didn't know what he was talking about.

Seeing as he wasn't saying anything beyond those words, I had reached the conclusion that I did have to express all my obvious doubts. _Lazy bastard..._ "Well, why don't you just come with me tomorrow morning? Since it's a Saturday, there aren't any classes to skip either— Ah, speaking of that, don't tell Onii-chan I skipped classes, okay?" Kyoko smiled nervously at me, as if somewhat embarrassed from having asked me such a favor. "If it's something important, I wouldn't want you to be without it; you should go to Chikusa-kun!" she said despite also having no idea of what Chikusa was talking about (or so I assumed). _'Chikusa-kun', she said..._

But then again, Kyoko was also bold enough to refer to **HIBARI** of all people as 'Hibari-kun'; somehow, she was still alive. Whatever the case, I also needed to get my own priorities straight since apparently, the most important part of her words was her use of honorifics towards untrustworthy people. _Is she encouraging me to go to Kokuyo...? I mean, come on, Mukuro killed you!_

_... Kind of. But he would've if you weren't so good with illusions!_ "W-well..." Despite the fact that my trauma clear warned me that going back to Kokuyo was a terrible idea, as I processed it more, there was really no other danger for me to face other than reliving my trauma or just meeting Mukuro and having him tell me a rather harsh remark: after all, I had Holy Protection, and Kikyo did not seem like the type to let me get even a scratch on my body if His Divine Presence didn't allow for it. Besides, I was admittedly curious on what the hell Chikusa wanted to give to me that he apparently thought was so important: I seriously had no idea of what he was talking about since I didn't remember losing anything at the time. "I guess..." _I really don't wanna do this, but..._ "I might as well..."

As much as I also didn't want to admit it, a big part of why I had accepted was because Kyoko insisted on it: because she was my friend? Partly, yes, but there was also something about Kyoko that would make others really listen to what she'd say, and I was no different. "Then I'll see you tomorrow," Chikusa simply said before turning around, "Let's go, Ken." After that, he started walking, catching Ken off guard somewhat.

"Hey, Kaki-pi, wait!" he shouted, angry at him; he then turned to us. "Whatever it is you wanted to see Kyoko for, it better be quick!" I simply responded with a blank gaze as Ken started running towards Chikusa, who had merely been walking calmly to Kokuyo Land.

**. . .**

_... Well, this was overall... unexpected, I guess._ 'Shocking' would have probably been a better word though. I shifted my attention to Kyoko, who had been waving at Chikusa and Ken with a cheerful smile. _Would you please stop acting as if those guys weren't dangerous criminals...?!_ "So, uh..." I paused, wondering what the best way to ask for a good explanation of the surprising situation I had witnessed from someone like Kyoko was. "You've been... getting along with those people, I see."

Kyoko turned to me with an innocent smile. "I'm not really sure about how they feel towards me, but I guess things are going well." _That's way too vague!_ It was suspiciously vague in fact, but I was sure Kyoko wasn't doing it on purpose.

"What things?" I asked, honestly curious. "What were you doing in Kokuyo of all places with them anyway?" Since it was such a legitimate question, I was unable to think of it as intrusive or rude in any way, though it could've carried that tone.

Either way, I did need to know that badly: I didn't want Kyoko to be around dangerous people, especially when they had somehow escaped some weird mafia prison. "With them? My part of the deal, or something like that," Kyoko said in a carefree manner, as if even she didn't have a clear idea of what she was talking about. _What deal...?! And why would she make a deal with someone in Kokuyo?!_ Seeing as Ken and Chikusa both worked for Mukuro, it was undoubtable that whatever deal Kyoko was involved in had Mukuro in it; that was what scared me the most. _What the hell, can't she worry about her own safety?! What are they even making her do?!_

"Anyway," Kyoko said, interrupting my thoughts, "you wanted to talk about Onii-chan, right? You didn't sound very good over the phone, so I was really worried." She had a worried expression on her face as she said that, reminding me of just how badly I had struggled with telling her what I even wanted to meet her for in the first place. The contrast between the carefree and cheerful smile Kyoko was making and the current worried face she had only made it worse for me, as I knew that was my fault. "You said it was important, right? If so, we should go somewhere else to talk better about it."

_Well, I guess not being able to see Kokuyo Land would certainly make me talk better about anything._ I found myself somewhat glad at the fact that Kyoko had made me think about something else, as I was having quite the depressing thoughts before. "Alright," I said and nodded, "I'm pretty sure you know this town better than I do, so would you mind leading the way?"

"Sure!" Kyoko responded, recovering her cheerful smile... until she started staring curiously at Kikyo. "Is he coming too?"

_I wish he weren't,_ I wanted to say, but I didn't want to be rude to Kikyo and confuse Kyoko at the same time. "Of course," Kikyo answered for me, "However, there is no need to worry about your privacy: I'll simply be on stand-by at a safe distance from you, in case something were to happen." As I thought about it, the only logical conclusion as to why Kikyo had to be around me 24/7 was that I was in that much danger, but I wasn't even directly involved in the incident that was going on.

... If so, then what exactly was I going to face that required such protection? After all, I doubted His Divine Presence had just felt like having one of His angels stalk me for no reason, especially when He could just watch over me anyway (hopefully He truly wasn't stalking me wherever I went...). "Well, alright!" Kyoko nodded. "But I wouldn't want to get in the way of your work either, so don't hesitate to speak up if you change your mind." _Ah, that's right, she thinks he's a bodyguard..._

Kikyo was technically a bodyguard of sorts, but he was definitely not a paid one: if anything, he was a bodyguard of the divine category. "Ha-han, that was my intention from the start." He actually seemed amused at Kyoko's words, probably because she was being really nice to him without having any idea of what he actually was: such was the naive yet kind Kyoko Sasagawa.

Kikyo's words had served as a cue for us all to start walking (somehow, it was always Kikyo who'd do that), even though Kyoko was the one leading us somewhere: since I had never seen much of Kokuyo or had any interest in knowing about it, I was mildly curious on what was in such a town. However, I was also not about to lose focus on what I had come to Kyoko for again: I wanted to know about Ryohei, and that had yet to change in me.

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

Within the slightly decayed town that was Kokuyo, Kyoko had somehow found a nice enough place for us to have a conversation. While I didn't have the best impression of Kokuyo, it had been solely based off of my experiences in Kokuyo Land: I hadn't imagined it to have worse conditions and mood than Namimori.

... Well, at least there were no super heroes, or anything as strange as that. "So, what's wrong with Onii-chan?" Kyoko asked right as we sat down, that having been most likely what she had been thinking about ever since I called her; I frowned.

"Um, you see..." I hesitated, searching for words that wouldn't make her as sad. "Do you know why he loves Math?" Instead, I decided to dodge the topic with an important question, one that I was definitely curious about. If anything, it was stranger that I hadn't asked anyone about why Ryohei liked Math before: I guess I had figured no one would know, since it was that unexpected.

Understandably, Kyoko looked at me confusedly from the sudden question. "Why Onii-chan likes Math? Hmmm..." Afterwards, she seemed deep in thought, her expression still somehow looking innocent while doing so. "I'm not really sure, actually: he just started liking it all of a sudden. Before that, he didn't have anything to focus on, so it's nice to see him being that passionate again." She smiled fondly, truly happy for her brother.

However, I was confused. _He had nothing he liked before Math? Then why was he going on about not wanting to 'go back to that life' or whatever?_ "Are you sure? Didn't he have anything else?" I asked, wanting to make that clear._ I'm sure he implied that he used to love something else before Math, but I don't think Kyoko would lie..._ Had Kyoko been confusing things? That seemed likely enough.

"Something else? As in, before he stopped having anything to focus on?" Kyoko questioned. _So that was a phase?_ "If that's what you're talking about, then... there was one thing." Kyoko's expression immediately lost all its brightness as she looked to the side, saddened. It was almost as if her eyes reflected the sad memories she was thinking about, and it hurt seeing her that way: I had never seen her truly like that before. "Ever since I can remember, Onii-chan had been into boxing: he'd train every day, and he was really strong."

She gave me a small smile, but that only ended up doing worse for my heart; just what had happened to Ryohei? _He was into boxing? That sounds fitting, why did he have to quit that?_ It would've surely not made me laugh at him. As I thought of it, I had never seen Ryohei even attempt to swing a fist at anyone despite always training his body and being seemingly excited at things involving fighting or solving a problem straight on: he had at least praised me for my strength on my birthday (but somehow, that made me fit to join the Math Club). "Then why does he no longer love boxing? What happened?" I asked, looking visibly worried.

Whatever it was that had happened to Ryohei, it must've been serious; that much was clear. After all, someone like Ryohei, who was passionate about anything he would do, would never give up on his interests for no reason. "Well..." Kyoko looked down at the table we were at, hesitating for a while: it was probably painful to bring up; I considered telling her to forget my questions. "When we were in Elementary School, a group of high schoolers took me as a hostage to lure Onii-chan: at the time, he would get into a lot of fights; they probably wanted to pay him back for losing one."

_Hostage...?!_ I thought incredulously, not even wanting to assume just how scary such an experience would have been, especially when Kyoko was just in Elementary School. "I wasn't aware of that when they came to me, so I just went along with them: I thought they wanted to surprise Onii-chan or something like that... But that wasn't it, and before I knew it, those high schoolers were using me to threaten him." I noticed that I was holding my breath, imaging that scene in my mind. "At first, Onii-chan didn't fight and let them beat him up... that's why he has that scar."

_Now that she mentions it...!_ I hadn't paid it any mind when I noticed it, knowing that it was none of my business: besides, it could've originated from something not as dramatic so there was no need for me to ask. However, it seemed like that scar had more meaning than I had thought... "But, even after that, they didn't let me go: I'm not sure if they were lying or not, but they said they were going to have me call some of their friends over to see him in that state, or something along those lines..." It was admittedly a strange tactic to have your opponent's little sister call your friends for you to see them in their pitiful state, but it definitely sounded humiliating: something like that would've surely added salt to my wounds if I had been in that situation.

Having people like that use a member of my family for anything at all, just to make both of us suffer, was simply cruel. Even so, there was the possibility that Kyoko was remembering it wrong, and that they were actually planning on something much worse that she hadn't been able to pick up on: if that was the case, I didn't even want to know what that was. "That made Onii-chan mad, so he tried fighting them all with his condition: he ended up succeeding in taking two of them out, at least, but afterwards... the one that was holding on to me pushed me towards the river nearby, and I rolled right down the riverbank... and landed with a splash right there."

My eyes widened, shocked at not only the absolutely terrible turn of events, but also at Kyoko's eyes; they were teary, I noted. "Him and his group used that chance to run away, while Onii-chan had to save me by himself..." The tears I had spotted before were streaming down her cheeks, making me freeze in place. _Kyoko..._ "After that... I think an ambulance came... and I had to get hospitalized for weeks... From then on, Onii-chan started blaming himself, since he was always fighting... quit boxing..." She was starting to barely be able to speak, while I found myself speechless as well: what was I supposed to say? 'I'm sorry' wouldn't cut it. "And..." Kyoko sniffed. "He became depressed for a while, having nothing to like... All because of me."

"D-don't blame yourself!" I immediately exclaimed; that much I had to let out. "None of you were at fault at that time!" With Kyoko's story, I was starting to understand just why Ryohei had refused to take up fighting again, and why he had never done so: after all, it had been because of him fighting those high schoolers that they had taken Kyoko and got her hospitalized; a burden that big would make anyone depressed.

However, it had not been his fault: those people had no need to hurt Kyoko, especially when they could've just let her go after Ryohei let himself get beat up by them. Speaking of that, Ryohei was really strong: he beat up two high schoolers while injured, and he was only in Elementary School! It was also implied that he had beaten up that group of high schoolers before, which was already amazing. "But it's the truth..." Kyoko muttered, a saddened tone to her voice. "I caused him all that trouble, made him quit boxing, all of that... while I was completely fine."

"Huh?" _How is that possible?! You were hospitalized!_ I stared at her with a skeptic gaze, though I was still worried: she could've been saying that only because she thought her suffering wasn't comparable to her brother's.

While still crying, Kyoko looked straight at me, making me flinch. "At that time, what had gotten pushed off the riverbank was... an illusion." I was absolutely shocked at her words, even though Kyoko using illusions wasn't that unpredictable: however, circumstances had been different. "I never got hurt at all...! Even when I was at the hospital, I was only making it seem like I had those injuries because I thought it would be bad if people found out I could use illusions...! So... So I hid it from Onii-chan, and he still thinks... he..." She broke down.

I quickly stood up from my seat and approached hers. Crouching somewhat to be at her height, I wrapped my arms around her. She flinched as a reaction to my sudden actions, having most likely been surprised. "I'm sorry..." I muttered, feeling a few of her tears on my shoulder, where her head had been placed from the hug I gave her. "I shouldn't have asked; I'm sorry... I didn't know it was that bad..." Despite that, Kyoko still seemed to have no qualms about using illusions, even when they were to trick us into thinking she was injured (or dead): however, she had never followed through with them in the same way that she had done with Ryohei.

If anything, her illusions of herself would always fade away at some point, whatever it happened to be. Besides, Kyoko had never denied that she used illusions: most of the time, no one would ask, but I remembered she had answered Tsuna about how she would cast her illusions; she hadn't lied then. "Why... are you apologizing...? I told... you because you're my friend, so you don't need... to feel bad for asking." I could even imagine a saddened smile on her face as she said that... _Because we're friends...?_

That meant she trusted me enough to even tell me such a story; I found myself feeling slightly better. I also considered her a good friend, and she was one of the people in Namimori I was closest to: because of that, I didn't feel that something was wrong as much as I did with Ryohei, even if I still faintly felt a stinging pain in my chest from it; I willfully ignored that. After all, if she trusted me in such a way, I could not betray her trust with inner notions that I didn't even understand: she was a friend, and I was sure of that. Even if she was somewhat sketchy with her powers, I knew she wasn't a bad person; I knew she was trustworthy. She had done many things for me and everyone else before, and I was well aware of that: surely, they all felt the same way.

I smiled. "Then," I started, my tone softer than usual, "you don't have to feel bad either... for Ryohei-senpai, I mean. I'm sure that if you told him everything, he wouldn't hate you; he wouldn't blame you either. Even if you did hide that from him, it wasn't all your fault: they should never have pushed you in the first place!" If anything, they shouldn't have even taken hostages in the first place, but that was still applicable to my point. "So, instead of blaming yourself, you should just talk to him: tell him the truth." _Unlike me, who can't say anything..._ My smile turned bitter. "Tell him while you still can, and continue what you've been doing: you're always calling him to study Math with us, aren't you? You should keep supporting him like that: I'm sure he always appreciates it."_ If he notices..._

The positive part of me wanted to think Ryohei was at least not dense enough to do something like that, but I wasn't completely sure... Either way, it was true that Kyoko always seemed to be supporting his love for Math: at first, I thought it was because they were siblings, but I was now more convinced it was to make up for what had happened at that time. "Tell... him?" Kyoko questioned, almost as if I'd said something surprising or very strange. "Would that really be alright?"

"It's senpai we're talking about: I'm sure it'd be alright." It was simply unimaginable for Ryohei to hate his sister for anything, so I was actually confident in that statement. "Besides, you might as well do it now than never; you'll regret it if you don't." I grimaced, reminding myself of His Divine Presence and my mother's bitter smile. _When will _I_ be able to tell the truth...?_ Not wanting to become as depressed as Kyoko, I dismissed those thoughts. "So, um, go for it! Or something like that..."

... I always had to sound awkward somewhere, didn't I? Whatever the case, that was all I could say to cheer her up: I wasn't good enough for better arguments; it wasn't every day I'd do something of that sort. Even so, I hoped my words had affected her at least somewhat: I didn't want to see Kyoko sad.

Sadness just didn't fit her. Kyoko was better off smiling cheerfully, being the carefree yet mysterious girl she was. If anything, I wouldn't have been mad if she had suddenly disappeared in mist, revealing that it was all an illusion... somewhat. Even if that meant she wasn't that sad anymore, it would still make me angry because of the effort I had wasted to cheer her up when she might not have been sad in the first place.

**. . .**

"I..." Kyoko muttered as she escaped my grasp easily: it wasn't like I was holding her in place or anything of the sort, so I didn't really resist those actions. I stood up and stepped back, only to see that she was smiling at me; I smiled back at her. "I'll try...!" As I saw her wiping her tears afterwards, I couldn't help but feel somewhat proud of what I had done: while I hadn't just solved everything, and Kyoko would definitely have difficulties in telling everything to her brother, I had at least pushed her in the right direction.

It made me happy for her, glad that she wouldn't be as sad anymore: after all, she was my friend. "Well, good luck, I guess," I said, unsure if those were the best words to say after such a moment: either way, I ruined it._ Damn it..._ Kyoko nodded despite my terrible words, seemingly unaffected by them.

"I'll try my best!" she said, "But, for now, I'll go back to Kokuyo Land; I'm still supposed to be there." She got out of her seat, making me feel strange: usually, she would've disappeared in mist, but it seemed like she was no illusion. Due to that, she wouldn't disappear and instead would have to walk. _Huh, that's pretty nice..._

It wasn't like Kyoko would always fade away in mist: she just did it when everything was at its weirdest, leaving me to remember it well every time. "See you later," I said with a somewhat awkward expression, being reminded of the fact that Kyoko was somehow with Chikusa and Ken doing... whatever it was she had decided to do. _I hope she'll be alright..._

"Ah, wait!" Kyoko suddenly exclaimed, looking as if she had realized something. "In the end, why did you want to know all this? You didn't tell me what happened with Onii-chan either..."

_I totally forgot...!_ The moment we shared had been so dramatic and sad that my true reasons for having come to Kyoko had slipped by me completely. "Y-you see, I wanted to know more about Ryohei-senpai because he seemed hesitant in fighting, saying that he loved Math and that he wasn't 'going back to that life', and things of that sort," I nervously explained, still unwilling to just tell her a group of assassins could be going after her brother, "Because of that, I got worried and wanted to know more about him."

"Oh, okay." Kyoko had a carefree smile on her face, not questioning any of my words: they had been the truth, but I hadn't told her everything either... If she were Reborn, she would have seen through me immediately. "You seemed really upset, so I thought it was something worse at first. I'm glad it's nothing serious! Anyway, I'll be going now; see you!" With a cheerful wave, Kyoko walked away, leaving me in an area of Kokuyo I didn't know of as I considered whether it had been a good idea to lie to her.

While I didn't want to worry her, she did have the right to know the truth: however, it just pained me to even think of telling her that. With that in mind, I couldn't do anything but say, "Yeah, see you later!"

**. . .**

After she was gone from my sight, I heard Kikyo approaching me: while all of that had been going on, Kikyo was merely watching us from a certain distance, no doubt still smiling calmly despite how sad that had been. "Are you sure it was wise to just let her go like that?" he asked when he reached my side, making me turn to him confusedly. "You never got to ask her about where she would think her brother would be located, after all."

I froze.

**. . .**

**. . .**

"... Damn it!"

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

To my dismay, I had to go to Namimori the same way I had gone to Kokuyo so fast: by_ Kikyo._ When I arrived, my brain desperately searched for any location Ryohei would be at that wasn't his house, having not gotten any actual answer from Kyoko.

As I did so, I decided to walk around the town, knowing that it would at least be a better idea than standing still for many minutes. Kikyo remained silent, so I assumed he wasn't going to give me any clues either: if he had them, he would have told them already. _Well, beyond his house, I'd guess he'd want to be in school, but he wouldn't want to go to classes either..._ If anything, he'd only want to enter whatever classroom was used for the Math Club.

Due to that, the school was scratched out, which meant that I had no idea of where he'd be. _Where the hell would he go...?!_ While I was deep in my frustration, Kikyo spoke up, "Ha-han, it looks like you're in luck." I snapped my head at him with a confused look, wondering if he was teasing me or something of the sort. "Your friend happens to be right there." He was pointing somewhere, making me look towards that direction.

There, I found a riverbank... and Ryohei.

I gasped. "There he is!" I ended up blurting out loud, having before thought finding Ryohei would be hopeless; I was that surprised. As I thought about it, it would make sense for him to be at the riverbank since that was where everything happened, but I wasn't very familiar with Namimori: I wasn't that knowledgeable on the area I was treading on.

Ryohei, having heard me shout that, turned to me with a surprised expression as I walked towards him, Kikyo following me. "What are you extremely doing here?" he asked, showing no signs of being depressed: had he already gotten over everything? If so, he wouldn't just stand around at a riverbank, would he?

Despite the fact that I had set out to find him, I felt awkward for doing so now that he was right in front of me; it wasn't normal for people to do that kind of thing. "Well, I-I was looking for you," I answered, looking to the side.

Immediately, I looked back at Ryohei: just looking at the river made me imagine the scene Kyoko had told me about and that was the last thing I wanted in my mind, especially when I was talking to someone involved in it. "Huh? Looking for me, you say? Is there anything you need me for?" He seemed confused, most likely because he had no idea of my intentions.

"It's not exactly me that needs something from you," I answered, only to realize how someone like Ryohei wouldn't understand my words at all. "I mean, uh, you see, I was at the hospital this morning and I heard what you said before you left, so..." I wasn't sure if I needed to specify absolutely everything to Ryohei or not, but I didn't want to do it at all so I decided to test the waters in that regard.

... And no, I didn't put it that way because I was near a river. "What of it?" _Why can't you understand the implications behind anything...?!_ **"Aaaah!"** he shouted in realization seemingly after giving my words some thought and gave me a displeased look. "Could it be that you're here to convince me to fight?! If that's it, then give it up! I will not waver to the extreme!"

His anger made me somewhat nervous, but I hadn't come to him without any motivation: I wanted him to change his mind and I knew it wasn't going to be easy; I had come mentally prepared. After hearing what happened to him from Kyoko, I found it hard to look at his scar, but it only made me want to see if he could change his mind more: otherwise, he would suffer. "I'm sorry, senpai, but that's exactly what I came here for: I'd like you to reconsider that stance."

I noticed Kikyo had distanced himself from Ryohei and I, probably to make me feel... not-as-stalked, in the same way he had done so for Kyoko: admittedly, I didn't want him that near me when I was talking about important matters with people I cared about. "My decision is final: I'm not doing it to the extreme! Math will be the only thing I'll focus on, no matter what!"

"Didn't you hear of the circumstances? Everyone needs you to do this, senpai," I pleaded, "I wouldn't have approached you otherwise." I had travelled through cities just so I could better understand Ryohei, so I was not about to back down from a few refusals. Besides, I was already aware of the fact that he was stubborn so I had yet to be affected by the intensity of his words and how firmly he had declined the mere prospect of fighting something.

Most likely, the events of before still affected him greatly: if anything, he had probably come to the riverbank to assert his convictions. "Of course I heard of them!" Ryohei stated, "But I forgot all about them right afterwards!" I shot him a blank look. _Are you serious...?!_ "Either way, it doesn't matter!"

"Yes, it does!" I couldn't take the stupidity I had just heard, making me raise my voice incredulously. _You can't just forget that a group of professional mafia assassins is targeting you!_ "You cannot possibly be telling me that you'd rather stand by while Tsuna, while everyone suffers!" While he wasn't the smartest and most eloquent person around, I at least knew Ryohei was reliable so it upset me that he wasn't budging, even if I knew why.

Ryohei, in reaction to my loud tone, shouted even louder, "They can handle themselves extremely fine without me!" I had a feeling that I was practically mirroring Ryohei's expression, meaning that I was fairly displeased as well, if not somewhat angry.

"It's because they can't that I'm trying to get you to reconsider!" I argued, but sighed afterwards. I never liked lashing out in such ways, so I calmed myself down somewhat and stared at Ryohei with a serious expression. "I understand that you'd feel that way, senpai, I really do, but I don't think that's any reason for you to leave everyone behind: it's not like you to do that."

Although I had been able to calm down, it looked like Ryohei hadn't done so at all. "I never said I was leaving them behind! What do you extremely understand about my determination anyway?!"

"I heard everything from Kyoko-chan," I immediately said, locking eyes with Ryohei as if to further transmit how serious I was about my words. Ryohei seemed to be just as serious, his eyes almost burning with determination... to the extreme.

Even when angry, Ryohei was extreme. "What...?!" However, from what I told him, Ryohei was thrown aback, surprised. He was sure that I wasn't lying, and I doubted he would jump to such conclusions either: due to that, I wasn't expecting an unwanted reaction from him.

His expression softened and became somewhat serious as he gazed at the river sternly. "So Kyoko told you, huh..." _Woah, he calmed down..._ That had been somewhat surprising to me, but I didn't mind it at all. Ryohei smiled. "Now that I think about it, you've been getting along well with her: she must trust you to the extreme if she went that far."

"I-I'm glad to hear that," I awkwardly said, finding the sudden shift in mood strange. Besides, if I was at present arguing with my friend's extreme brother, it was confusing that my friendship with her was being approved by him. In general, I hadn't heard him complain at all and, most of the time, he'd just ask me to join the Math Club: perhaps he had a good impression of me.

I did, in his perspective (somehow), kick a lot of ass, after all... by pushing fangirls out of my way and beating up delinquents with my Dying Will. "Then you better keep getting along with Kyoko to the extreme; I won't forgive you if you make her cry!" I flinched. _Let's not tell this guy that's exactly what I did a while ago..._ Even then, it hadn't been completely my fault: it was the story that made her sad, not me. "But, if you already know why I've stopped fighting, why are you trying to convince me?" He seemed genuinely confused, which was a good thing: at least he was willing to listen to me; he wasn't angry.

"That's because everyone will be in danger if you don't, including you: dangerous people are coming, and you need to train to have chances of stopping them. While I know it must be hard to take up boxing again, I'd sincerely like you to reconsider: to protect everyone and yourself, I'd like you to train and fight; make an exception for this, please," I pleaded with a frown on my face, sounding that serious because it truly was a serious situation. If Ryohei were to not do anything, he would risk death to both himself and everyone... I was not about to just let that happen.

I didn't want anyone to die, especially not them: even if a small part of me was still against me being closer to them, I already knew that I was too late, and even if I wasn't, as a human being, I did not want to see others suffer. "I'm sorry; I can't just do that," he answered, a serious expression on his face, "Ever since I saw Kyoko with all those injuries, I extremely vowed to never fight again: it was because I was picking fights with everyone that she got hurt; I don't want that to repeat itself."

"It won't!" I stated, "That wasn't your fault, senpai, so please don't blame yourself for it: those people shouldn't have even done something that cruel in the first place; you had nothing to do with it. Besides, your guilt is only making Kyoko-chan suffer more." I told the truth, which was exactly what had been on my mind, in hopes of it getting through to Ryohei: I didn't want to see him feeling down either.

Like Kyoko, that just didn't suit him. "What do you mean with that?!" he asked, surprised.

Despite how obvious the answer was to me, I remained deep in thought, considering what words to use. "She feels like it's her fault that you're blaming yourself, and that you quit boxing," I responded, "So upholding that isn't doing anything for her: if anything, she'd feel worse because you're restraining yourself from doing what's right."

"Why would Kyoko feel that way?! I don't understand to the extreme...!" Kyoko had really not told him her end of the story at all; Ryohei's confusion wasn't fake. Even so, I could understand why, since mustering the courage to say something like that was not easy: if I were in her position, I wasn't sure if I'd tell him or not.

The only thing that made me unsure was my present situation with His Divine Presence: without that, I probably would've been feeling the exact same way. However, being in a situation where I would like to tell my family about my circumstances but being unable to had made me not take chances to actually do so for granted: if anything, I was waiting for said chance myself, despite knowing deep down that it probably wasn't coming. "Well, how about you ask her? If you want to know and take care of the issue, I think that would be the best solution."

"... Going straight to root of the problem, huh? That doesn't sound like a bad idea to the extreme!" he acknowledged, nodding. "I'll do that later! For now, I'm still talking to you! You said you wanted me to make an exception and protect everyone, right?" Ryohei was very strong-willed, I noted: he wouldn't just mope around.

Not that I expected that out of him, but it still surprised me since I couldn't be as mentally strong as he was. "Exactly. You can still love Math if you want, but I'd like you to train and help everyone; they need you. I know you've vowed not to fight and I know that you did so with good intentions, but in this case, forgetting about it is the best choice: if you don't fight, things will end badly. So, for the same reasons you kept to that vow, could you forsake it, even if only for this time?"

I had honestly never sounded that convincing before: my hard work for such results truly reflected on it. Besides, I was saying no lie: Ryohei had vowed to never fight so he would bring no more trouble from it, and had only been so insistent about it with good intentions, reminding himself of what had happened to Kyoko; that meant he didn't want the same thing to happen to everyone else. It was definitely something worth of my respect, even if that vow was now inconveniencing everyone. Really, after this discussion, despite the fact that he was arguing with me, he gained some of my actual respect: before, he only had my respect as an upperclassman, which was why I'd speak so politely with him.

Now, I started to notice even more of Ryohei's qualities beyond those I had already gathered previously, and they were qualities I could admire (despite his lack of intellect and forgetfulness). "If they need me that badly, I'll help to the extreme!" I smiled, relieved at his answer. "While Math is still what I love, I'll take up boxing just this once and train! It'd be extremely lame if I chickened out while they were in trouble, after all!" Ryohei also returned to being in high spirits, smiling excitedly.

The fact that he was no longer angry or in denial to the extreme was definitely great for both me and everyone else. "Thank you...!" Due to that, I expressed my genuine gratitude, my efforts having actually been worth it: although training wouldn't guarantee everyone's chances of winning, it certainly didn't hurt and it gave everyone hope. Even if the Varia was strong, surely we would have some chances: we did beat a strange Illusionist who wanted to plunge the world in eternal Fangirl Wars, after all.

... Surely he was also strong, he had pretty amazing powers! "It's nothing! Now that I've decided on this, I'll train to the extreme, become the strongest and take care of all my opponents!" he shouted in determination, "Afterwards, I'll go back to Math to the extreme!" _Of course..._ I sighed, though I still had a smile on my face. "So, I'll see you later!" With those words, Ryohei dashed away from the area at full speed, making me barely able to see him.

_At least he's motivated,_ I thought as I stared off to his figure in the horizon, glad that I had done something good for him. In the end, I hadn't completely solved their problems, but it wasn't in my place to do so: they had to talk them out themselves. Meanwhile, Kikyo had approached me; I noticed Ryohei hadn't asked about him at all. Everyone but him had done so, but, I assumed, Ryohei had probably not even seen Kikyo, which I didn't mind: having to always explain him to others would definitely wear on my patience. "Ha-han, it looks like everything is working out in your favor," Kikyo remarked, "Your other friends are also hard at work: perhaps you would like to go see them? You still have plenty of time to do so."

He was right: it wasn't even afternoon yet. Even so, it already felt like a whole day had passed as I had done many things and travelled to many places. However, I couldn't just rest, not when there was a group of assassins targeting everyone I knew in Namimori: with that in mind, I found nothing better to do than what Kikyo was suggesting. "Well, yeah, but..." _Who should I see?_ I didn't even know all the Guardians yet, and I didn't have many uses beyond talking stuff out: just who needed my help?

Even without needing my help, I did want to see them anyway: I had to at least see if they were doing alright. _Out of everyone, I haven't seen Yamamoto today, I guess..._ Besides, I was almost 100% sure he was one of the Guardians: due to that, I definitely wanted to see how he was doing. Was he training? The only things I could ever imagine him doing were cooking and baseball, none of them being that lethal: how exactly was he going to train wielding his strange weapon anyway?

I definitely needed to see him. _But I'm gonna have to search for him too, won't I...?_ "Ha-han? Is something on your mind?" _The fact that you won't help me out, maybe?_ I sighed.

"I know who I'd like to see, but I don't know where he is..." I muttered, unsure if telling that to Kikyo was worth it or not. I honestly wish I knew when Kikyo would be useful to me and when he wouldn't, but I had no idea: as far as I could see, Kikyo would give me information whenever it seemed like His Divine Presence would find it interesting if I did something a certain way.

Unfortunately, I did not, could not, and did not want to comprehend the thought process of His Divine Presence so finding out how Kikyo worked was impossible. "That is indeed troublesome; it certainly wouldn't do to have you in a standstill," Kikyo said, though he was still smiling calmly as if nothing was wrong, contradicting his own words, "With that in mind, you will have to follow me." _He's helping...?!_ I stared at him incredulously, finding that too good to be true.

However, it seemed like he was serious as he was already facing another direction, practically ready to leave the area. "Ha-han, what are you waiting for? Come along; you will soon reach your destination," Kikyo urged me to follow him as he started walking, making me wonder how exactly he knew his way around Namimori; probably His Divine Presence's fault, I noted.

Either way, being lead to the right place was nothing but good so I started walking right behind Kikyo, already considering what to say to Yamamoto...

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**Author's Notes:**

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And so, the chapter ends, with no glossaries! Seriously, I had to put them in the previous chapters and they were somewhat troublesome to make since I had to go back and forth with my story to take note of all of the terms you wouldn't understand. Anyway, this chapter ended up being more about the Sasagawa siblings than just Ryohei, but I think that's a good thing: I developed both characters, yay!

However, what exactly was Kyoko doing in Kokuyo? You'll just have to find out in later chapters! Speaking of that, Kikyo, Kyoko and Kokuyo are too similar: I'd always be afraid of writing one for another by accident X.X Like, Kikyo and Kyoko together is the recipe for naming mistakes! Also, Ken's blatant hatred of Observer-chan: I absolutely loved writing it XD I mean, I love you, Observer-chan, but Ken doesn't and I like seeing characters with differing opinions on Observer-chan. But, speaking of that, Chikusa was acting strange! He wanted to give her something?!

Haha, yes, you'll only find that out later: for now, we gotta focus on the same day ^^' I mean, that's not my fault, it's the arc that dictates their training only lasts 5 days, and two days were rest days so they probably didn't count in the manga (since it was filler)! With that in mind, Basil, in canon, actually recovers from his injuries in two days to train Tsuna 0.0 So yeah, lots of stuff will have to be done in a day, meaning you'll have like, the next two chapters at the very least still on the same day: you'll only know what Chikusa wants after that ^^'

Omg though, I had to channel my inner Kyoko and Ryohei when they were being all serious and stuff like, I tried so hard not to get them OOC: in my mind, I think Kyoko would cry while telling the story and be all around saddened, while I imagined Ryohei not being very depressed; I don't think he's the type to mope around. Instead, I thought that Ryohei would come to the riverbank to assert his vow and not to emo himself out: basically, I imagined Ryohei was more angry than depressed, and knew that he could be convinced to leave an exception if it was for his friends and didn't make Kyoko sad.

After all, he goes against his promise in canon to fight alongside everyone, so why wouldn't he do the same here? Besides, this kind of reminds me of Knuckle, who had dedicated himself to religion after an incident in his boxing career and later, when his friends are in a pinch, he takes up boxing again to save them: this similarity was unintended but welcome, I guess ^^ With all of that considered, Ryohei was going to budge for sure even if it weren't Observer-chan convincing him: however, being friends with Kyoko certainly helps.

Like, Ryohei likes Observer-chan because she gets along with Kyoko and seems like she could fit in the Math Club (in his perspective) so I guess having her as the one to talk sense into him was a good idea. Observer-chan got to sound really serious here, and I got surprised because Observer-chan is usually doing other things at the sidelines: she barely gets the chance to share her thoughts to others and really have a talk with them; when she does, I get happy. Though, this chapter was pretty serious, which is amazing coming from this story: Kyoko's moment was really serious, and Ryohei's conversation was also taken very seriously by Observer-chan. I mean, this is supposed to be a really silly story but then I include a darker backstory for Ryohei and Kyoko and make a serious protagonist XD

Speaking of their backstory, I totally made it way darker than before, with Kyoko getting hospitalized, throwing Ryohei into depression only for Kyoko's injuries to be an illusion so she caused his suffering for nothing, making her be really guilty about it too, like... holy shit, man, that's just sad. Even so, I had to do it this way or I couldn't get a good explanation as to why Ryohei likes Math while having him be conveniently fit: meanwhile, I also included Kyoko's powers into the mix so yeah, it was quite the achievement but it wasn't used for silliness like Mukuro and his glorious backstory. Ah, it was so amazing; I look back on it fondly... Pfft, eternal Fangirl Wars XD

Anyway, we'll check how Yamamoto's doing on the next chapter so look forward to Yamamoto? Well, I told you to look forward to Ryohei on this chapter but you saw a lot of Kyoko too so expect Yamamoto and other characters...? Just look forward to it in general, please ;_;


	69. Chapter 63

**First Words:**

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**Guest - Yeah, while I tried to lighten up the mood a bit with Observer-chan's commentary, I totally couldn't do it because Observer-chan takes everything seriously ^^' Well, since character development is serious business, I decided to write that in a fitting mood, as I would definitely like you to feel the same way about the characters in question. As for Kyoko's abilities, I'll leave that to your imagination 8D Omg though, you still remember that from the Kokuyo arc, that's awesome! I thought everyone else would have forgotten because this story is so long. Either way, you'll only be able to see if your guess is correct in, uh... two chapters? At least that's the plan. Observer-chan has gotten close to everyone so she's actually going out of her way to get herself involved just so she can help them out, which I also find really pleasant: unlike the Kokuyo arc, where Observer-chan just wanted to go home but stuck around out of moral obligations, Observer-chan actually cares and is doing things. While at first, I feared people wouldn't like me focusing on Observer-chan, I decided not to care about that since I didn't want my protagonist to take a backseat to the story. Either way, I'm glad you think that way, though Observer-chan will still be called Observer-chan for our convenience (until you know her name)!**

**Yukimi Himenou - Oh my, hello there! Like, omg, it's absolutely touching to me that you've actually bothered with reading through all this just so you'd have time to review it afterwards, a-and saying you were a huge fan a-and, and that seeing it makes your day every time I update, just... waaaah *cries tears of joy* ;_; However, I'm totally depressed now since I took so long to publish this chapter that I couldn't answer you right away from the fact that it's practically tradition for me to answer reviews here rather than with a PM! Seriously, I really hope I didn't make you think I didn't want to answer or something of the sort for taking so long; I'm really sorry! I also really enjoy writing all these twists in the KHR canon, that's practically the point of this story: thank goodness for Shouichi, since he gave me the initial inspiration! Personally, I think Kyoko is a likable character already, so I'm simply portraying how I think she would act in these situations (like, hopefully without it being really OOC): while, admittedly, I didn't care much for Kyoko at first, I started seeing her full potential while writing this story and now she's my favorite female character in KHR. However, it really is sad how she's disliked in the fandom, since she can be just as entertaining and likable as the other girls (I like them all, by the way ^^). Anyway, thank you very much for reviewing, following and putting this story in your favorites (I got really giddy since I recognized your username in the list ^^')! Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter, and all the others after it!**

This story got 1 favorite and 1 follower while I desperately tried to find a way to write this chapter, thank you! Whatever the case, omg, I took so long to write this chapter, and it wasn't because I was too busy with my other story: instead, I just wasn't finding the right things to apply to this chapter so I scratched most of my plans out and just went along with something completely different. With that in mind, this chapter will be nothing like what I made you expect! Seriously though, I totally wouldn't lose to a 'training before the Varia arc' chapter, damn it, I'll finish this story!

Beyond this, I've got to tell you that the re-written versions of the first 22 chapters will be replaced with the current ones after a few days, so if your email cries over this, you'll know why. Also, from that point on, I'll be constantly replacing chapters until you tell me otherwise: if, for example, your email is getting filled with messages (I can't guarantee this'll happen but just in case), tell me right away and I'll start only replacing them at a set time, like right now.

110 = Japan's emergency phone number (for the police), you know, like 112 or 911, those kinds of numbers.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- The reason Kikyo hasn't really shown himself whenever Observer-chan was around Hibari was actually so Hibari wouldn't ask about him since that would consequentially lead to Hibari trying to bite him to death (which would be quite troublesome for Kikyo);**

**\- No, Hibari didn't actually count five minutes; he just showed up when he got sick of waiting.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 63: Namimori's Police**

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Even after a while of following Kikyo, I was still dumbfounded at the fact that he was actually helping me, leading me straight to the path I desired; it was too good to be true. Besides, I wasn't completely sure he was taking me to Yamamoto's location despite his words, as they were as trustworthy as His Divine Presence's: after all, his actions seemed to be completely based on what His Divine Presence would want to see, and I was sure He would never find me just walking to where Yamamoto was and checking on how he was doing interesting. Unfortunately, I had no choice but to rely on Kikyo as I had no leads on Yamamoto's (or anyone's) location, and I couldn't just stand around and do nothing either.

The area we happened to be in wasn't one I walked through often, but I recognized it somewhat. _Yamamoto doesn't live here..._ Well, I had never actually been to his house, but he had told me of its location before, and it surely was not that street. Instead, Yamamoto had a sushi shop that his father managed, and it was located on a slightly busier part of town.

This street, however, was mostly quiet, and barely any people passed through it since it didn't have any shops or the like; that was why I'd usually not go through it. While I loved taking walks and gazing at scenery, I couldn't simply go anywhere I wanted: if I wanted to ensure my safety, I had to know of which places to avoid and which ones were fine. Even if there could be danger anywhere, it was still true that there were locations with higher chances of something bad happening.

... The shriek I heard from a fairly close proximity to where I was had practically proved why I had decided to avoid this street. "What... was that?" Startled, I glanced left and right, in case there was something lying in wait to strike at me as well. As implausible as that was, fear was fear, and I did like having some peace of mind.

"Ha-han?" Kikyo seemed more curious than anything, as if something amusing could be up ahead, where the shriek had come from. He stopped in his tracks in possibly the most elegant way I had ever seen one do so before turning around, a calm smile on his face. "Although I cannot confirm this, I assume some sort crime was committed; the voice must have surely belonged to the victim." At the contrast between his demeanor and what he was telling me, I frowned, a disturbed expression on my face.

Picking up on that, Kikyo added, "However, there is no need for you to worry: your safety will not be jeopardized." While those were truly reliable words when taken out of context, I happened to be aware of the whole situation, so I stared at him somewhat incredulously.

"W-what about the woman...?" I reluctantly asked, that hesitation stemming solely from the fact that normally, the answer was obvious: someone had to save her from whatever predicament she was in, if possible. Could one truly leave a helpless person alone like that?

Apparently, Kikyo could, and he showed no remorse while doing it. "Ha-han? The woman? You wish for me to save her?" While he still had a kind smile on his face, I could tell his gaze was nothing more than condescending, as if he was looking at an ignorant child who didn't know any better. It was different from His Divine Presence's condescending gazes: when it came to Him, it was like I wasn't even human; needless to say it was much scarier than Kikyo's. "As much as I can understand your line of thinking, whatever service I can provide to you is limited and cannot be applied to anyone else: as you are well aware, I can only act according to Byakuran-sama's will." I grimaced. _Even when he just heard that..._ "With that in mind, it would also be rather unfavorable to me as your Holy Protection to have you recklessly rush to someone's aid without possessing any means to go through with that, so do refrain from such actions."

My eyes widened slightly. _How did he guess...?_ While I was somewhat planning on running to the scene and getting into danger, I was going to do that with the intention of making Kikyo have no choice but to take care of the issue for me; somehow, he had seen through that. _He's smart..._ Beyond that, he also had a way with words that I could not possibly dream of ever achieving, and that definitely helped his case. "But..."

"Certain things can't be helped," he said, "For your own sake, you should avoid conflict that does not concern you." _Hey, I try to avoid conflict!_ I immediately countered in my mind angrily. _Kinda..._ Just my previous thoughts after having heard Kikyo figure my intentions out were enough to indicate that as much as I wanted to believe otherwise, I would usually jump right into conflict. After all, I could not just leave troubled people alone, I just _couldn't..._ otherwise, I'd feel bad.

Wouldn't most people? If I were to see something terrible happen, but decide not to act on it and see everyone suffer because of it, it would be impossible for me not to feel guilty; I could've done something. I looked up at Kikyo with a disheartened gaze and uttered, "I'm sorry..."

"... But I cannot simply do that."

With those simple words, I started running forward. Throughout the conversation, other noises had been heard from that direction, suggesting whatever had occurred was still going on. "Ha-han...?" Hearing that from Kikyo, who I had just passed, and having noticed how his smile had widened, I quickened my pace. "How unfortunate..."

The fact that Kikyo seemed amused, as if I was doing something he would deem laughable and confident that he wouldn't even struggle taking care of it honestly scared me. However, it didn't seem like I was actually being stopped by him, even though I had seen him being able to restrain people like that time with Squalo: while I didn't want any plants wrapped around me, it was still fairly suspicious that he hadn't done anything right away; someone like him would surely have left no room for mistakes.

Up ahead, I could see a fallen trash can, its contents spread about; that had been most likely the source of one of the noises I had heard, I noted. As I continued moving forward, I found a blind alley. Peeking from it, three figures could be seen in the horizon: one was dangerously close to what seemed like a female (no doubt the woman that had shrieked), while the other was slightly farther from them and was pointing at the woman what seemed to be a knife.

I immediately retracted my head from the corner I was peeking from. _I might get into conflicts, but I'm not stupid enough to go in between that..._ After all, the two men there were adults: a middle school student like me had no chance against them. _But I can't just leave that alone either...!_ I considered my options: I could either be like Kikyo and apathetically leave that woman to her fate, rush in and practically sacrifice myself for her, or...

As I reached for my cellphone, I heard Kikyo behind me, "Well? Weren't you going to save her? All things considered, her situation is quite dire so, if you delay yourself, you might arrive to a corpse." Quickly and forcefully taking my cellphone, I shot him an annoyed glare: I knew Kikyo didn't mean those words; it was that obvious. If anything, he sounded like an adult talking to a child that had vehemently attempted to do something stupid, only to fail miserably: from that would come the condescending remarks to make the child feel even more regretful, ensuring they wouldn't do anything similar again.

Not even bothering to answer him, I dialed a very, very simple number: 110.

**. . .**

_Come on, come on, come on...!_ While I had never seen the police in Namimori, a local police station had to exist _somewhere._

**. . .**

_Please...!_

**. . .**

"What is it?" I practically jumped from hearing a voice over the phone and breathed a loud sigh of relief. "If it's an ambulance, you dialed the wrong number." The operator seemed to have confused my actions for something being physically wrong with me, making my gaze turn blank.

However, I immediately focused on the problem at hand. "N-no, I need the police...!" I asserted, "A-a woman's being attacked...!" I could barely even voice those words, but I had to do it; either that, or go for the Kikyo approach. Whatever the case, I could already tell I would have to serve as a distraction for sure, having to make time for the police to arrive. While I had no idea whether Kikyo would allow for that or not, I would have to try anyway or the effort I was already making would be for no reason at all.

Putting that aside for the time being, I reminded myself, within my feelings of stress, that I had to specify the location, and most likely describe the situation and the people involved in detail. "Hmmm..." However, before I could do that, the operator hummed inquisitively. "I see." _Do I know this guy from somewhere? I think I've heard his voice before..._ I wondered if that was just my imagination since that seemed so implausible.

Even so, the operator's voice was definitely familiar. "Such bad timing," he said. Afterwards, in a more distant voice, he uttered, "We'll finish this later." It seemed like he was talking to someone else for some reason; something was clearly wrong with this operator. "If that's all, I'm hanging up."

"Wait, wha—?!" With that, he had totally and completely hung up on me. _What the hell was up with that guy?! Is he even gonna get the police on its way?!_ Somehow, that was doubtful. _He didn't even let me tell him where I was...!_ Admittedly, I had never called the police in my life, but I was at least sure that was not how things worked with emergency phone numbers. _Damn it...!_

Without knowing whether any help was going to come in the first place, I felt hopeless; what was I going to do against those two men? Nothing; I couldn't take them on. I couldn't even fight in the first place, and one of them had a knife. _Ha, now would be the perfect time for one of those Dying Will Bullets..._ I thought in an attempt to cheer myself up as I contemplated on a way to buy time. "It seems like that idea didn't go well," Kikyo said, but I brushed that off while thinking of what to do.

... Well, there was only one thing I could pull off. Putting myself right at the blind alley's entrance, I shouted, **"HEY!"**

"Ha-han, so it did come to this," Kikyo remarked, as if he had expected it all along. _Then why did you have to say all that about ignoring conflict before?!_ Perhaps that had only been him attempting to convince me; either that, or... His Divine Presence had a hand in it; I wasn't sure which. Either way, none of those options were very nice.

I saw the two men staring at me confusedly, while the woman seemed helpless. "What do you think you're doing?!" In all honesty, if I didn't have Holy Protection around, I would surely not have the courage to carry out what I was doing. After all, by myself, I was weak, and being weak did not solve problems.

The knife the other man had pointed at the woman had been pointed at me instead, making me flinch. "Scram, kid...!" he shouted back, an annoyed expression on his face. Meanwhile, the other man seemed to have slightly loosened his grip on the woman, having stopped what he was doing... whatever that had been: I wasn't even sure if they planned on robbing her or sexually assaulting her (though I definitely hoped it wasn't the latter); I had barely seen anything.

I noticed the fact that Kikyo hadn't been mentioned and glanced behind me, only to find that he wasn't there. _What?!_ Usually, Holy Protection suddenly disappearing was a terrible sign so when I faced the man with the knife, I had the most fearful expression I could muster. "N-no, l-l-let her g-go!" Even so, I couldn't back away from what I had started: besides, I had only intended to buy time until the police showed up.

While the man narrowed his eyes, a sudden gust of wind was heard and felt from behind me, only for me to see something, or rather, someone having flown so fast that he looked somewhat blurry to me. However, I could easily identify who had arrived as there was only one person in Namimori who could fly, and at such speeds to boot.

_Hibari the super hero...!_ My eyes widened in surprise, having somehow not expected him to come even though crime was definitely occurring right in the middle of the day. That was actually justifiable since, most of the time, what would warn Hibari of any crimes were fangirls who happened to be at the scene.

Meanwhile, this street was void of people due to the fact that it was the middle of the day (a weekday at that), and nothing of interest could be found there, so no fangirls were in sight: the fact that there weren't fangirls in every corner of Namimori was probably why it still had crime rates to begin with. Hibari swiftly landed near the two men who were staring at Hibari in absolute shock, incredulous at the sight they had laid eyes upon. "Hmph, anyone who disturbs Namimori's peace will be bitten to death...!"

... And so it was. Groans of pain were heard and, before I knew it, the two men had already collapsed, unconscious from the beating Hibari had given them. _He... He's fast..._ I could only mentally comment that, even though I was already perfectly aware of the fact that he was amazingly fast. The woman, who was still standing, only started crying, most likely having been suppressing the fear within her for that long: it was understandable; such a thing would definitely be a traumatic experience.

"This is why you were attacked: you're weak," Hibari informed her, his eyes narrowed, "It's only natural for little animals to be preyed upon." _She's way older than you!_ The woman merely looked up at him, making me wonder if the same thought had popped to her mind after his insolent words: that was no way to respect his elders. "What a waste of time," Hibari remarked while turning around, completely uncaring of the woman.

With a calm stride, Hibari started walking in my direction, his eyes completely focused on mine; I stepped back. _Am I somehow screwed this time too?_ I thought, a disturbed expression on my face. _Seriously, what does he want? I mean, I didn't do anything, I just called the police...!_ Speaking of that, it looked like the police was no longer necessary since the town's resident super hero had taken care of it right away.

As I thought of it further, Hibari's voice was remarkably similar to that operator's... "You were the one who called me, weren't you?" _Called?_ At my confused expression, Hibari's eyes narrowed. "You can't play dumb with me; I recognized your voice."

Although the fact that I seemed to have made enough of an impression on Hibari for him to even remember my voice (from that day in Kokuyo, no doubt) was already pretty amazing (in bad ways), I was still hung up on his first sentence. _But I called the police... right? I mean, I dialed 110 so it's not like I—_

_**"I-I-I-I ****CALLED**** YOU?!"**_ I immediately burst out, having reached that conclusion fairly fast from how similar the operator was in, well, everything to Hibari, making me have no doubts as to whether they were the same person or not. _How?! How can 110 somehow connect me to Hibari, that's just impossible!_ Even if this _was_ Hibari, I was sure it would not have been possible for him to somehow make 110 connect to his phone when used in Namimori; it probably wasn't legal either._ And wait, if 110 connects to Hibari, then..._

**. . .**

_Holy shit,_ I thought, a fearful expression on my face, _Hibari is the Namimori Police._

While that realization wasn't very unpredictable, it still shocked me in all terrible ways: a town was not supposed to lack a police station and have a middle school student taking care of everything! "You didn't notice?" he asked, though his expression hadn't changed much. "Hmmm..." He smirked. "You're awfully dense."

_... I _really_ hate this guy,_ my mind confessed, while I merely gave him a blank look. After all, acting defiant towards Hibari of all people was a bad idea, especially when I didn't know where Kikyo was... if he hadn't truly just disappeared, which I didn't want to believe. "U-uh, is there anything else you want to tell me or can I just...?" 'Leave' was what I wanted to say, but I was afraid of Hibari not approving of that so I just let that question drag.

"To you? Nothing in particular," he answered with narrowed eyes, almost as if the mere idea of him talking to me was unheard of. Even so, it would've been great if it truly was unheard of, but the amount of times we would coincidentally encounter each other could definitely tell me otherwise. "Beyond the fact that one of Tsunayoshi Sawada's annoyances has been nagging me about this little thing, that is." At my skeptic look, he lifted his right hand, showing me a ring.

... But it hadn't been just a normal ring. "T-that's...!" I reacted, my hand shaking as I pointed at the Vongola ring I had spotted. _No way, this guy is a Guardian?!_ It was simply unbelievable: who would trust Hibari, who liked nothing but animals and biting things to death, with their lives? If anything, _he_ would be the one ending said lives instead; that was the kind of guy Hibari was.

"Hmph, so it looks like you do know about it," he said, "This ring was in my mailbox this morning: the strange, foreign annoyance from yesterday said it was important but personally, I don't care." _'Strange, foreign annoyance from yesterday'...?_ I looked back on yesterday so as to remember anyone that could've been considered an annoyance to Hibari... With that, it didn't take me long to figure out who he was referring to. _Is he talking about Dino?!_ After all, he had gotten in the way of his fight with Squalo, and Hibari did refer to him as an annoyance yesterday. _But wait, why would Dino be talking to Hibari about the Vongola rings?_! As I thought that, something Dino had said in the hospital came to mind:

_"Instead, I'll be tutoring one of your Guardiens; I heard he's quite the problem child."_

... Either 'Guardiens' was French for 'scariest acquaintances', or Dino was not at all aware of just how much more than a 'problem child' Hibari was. _He's in charge of training Hibari..._ I concluded, _My condolences, seriously._ "Y-you don't care?" I reluctantly asked, "Even though you will be targeted by the Varia?"

"Varia? What's that?" _He doesn't even know anything...!_ Of course he wouldn't care about a random ring if he didn't know anything: if Dino had been explaining everything to him, I could also understand why he was still clueless; I doubt he'd know even one French word. Likewise, if I were to get explanations from Dino, I would most likely remain full of questions due to not knowing any French as well.

Even so, I could bet Dino had it rough, since Hibari probably hadn't even bothered to listen in the first place. "Uh, w-well, remember that long-haired man from yesterday?" He immediately narrowed his eyes, seemingly more focused on my words; he was interested, I noted. "He is part of this group of assassins called the Varia, and they want that ring, so... they'll be coming for it." Despite the fact that my words weren't very credible from how ridiculous they were, Hibari didn't seem to be doubting me; was he even aware of the Vongola?

I wasn't too sure: for example, while Gokudera knew everything, Yamamoto thought it was all a game and Ryohei... most likely had no idea too. Hibari, having listened to my words intently, smirked, seemingly amused. "So, you're saying that, because I have this thing, I'll be able to fight that strong guy and others like him? That sounds great." _I should've known this guy would think this is a good thing..._ "It looks like I really was better off not throwing the ring away." _You were planning on throwing it away?!_ I mean, from what Kikyo had told me, those rings were like ancient artifacts to the Vongola; doing that would sure piss a lot of people from the mafia off. "And it seems like I'll just have to bite that annoyance to death as fast as possible; he'll be in the way later."

With those words, Hibari started walking away without any parting words, having most likely finished all business he had with me... whatever it was that he had wanted. From the conversation we had, it seemed like Hibari wanted to know what exactly the whole ring stuff was about and guessed I would know because I was with Tsuna (and, somehow, he had deducted it all traced back to Tsuna), which was only natural: he had to at least know if there was anything he could gain out of said rings, even if he didn't care about the pesky details.

Really, there was nothing to worry about when it came to Hibari and fighting things, so even though he was a Guardian (for some reason), there was no need to check if he would do alright: if he was receiving training, combined with his already amazing power, he would surely beat anything to a pulp, even Italian professional mafia assassins.

... However, the one person I was worried about was Dino, who had to put up with one of the most difficult and weirdest people in existence. If anything, I couldn't help but wonder if Dino had even been able to tutor someone like Hibari: I could only imagine Hibari biting him to death for attempting to do so, and Hibari did tell me he was 'nagging' him and called him an annoyance; at least he wasn't a herbivore, I guess. "W-wait!"

With that in mind, I was about to do something risky yet again: Kikyo's words were too true when it came to me, I noted. "What is it?" he asked as he turned around, looking mildly annoyed from having to talk with me beyond what he considered necessary.

"C-can..." I hesitated, considering how much Hibari would reject and/or bite me to death for what I was about to ask. "Can I... uh, come with you?" Immediately noticing Hibari's eyes narrow into a glared directed at me, I added, "N-not because I want to uh, 'crowd' or something like that but b-because I think I know the person you were referring to and, um...!"

While for some people, it would seem like I was acting shy, I was actually just panicking over having to think hard about which words wouldn't make Hibari want to kill me; anyone would stammer under those conditions. "You want to see him?" he asked, still not fully convinced.

I simply nodded, figuring that I was better off not using words when unnecessary to communicate with Hibari; somehow, that happened to actually be the case. With a disinterested expression, much better than his murderous one, he uttered, "If that's it, then I left him at Nami-Middle's rooftop: whether he stayed or simply left afterwards, I have no idea. Either way, I'm going to settle things with him so whatever you want to do, make it quick."

Right after saying that, Hibari flew away at the same fast speeds he had used to arrive here, making me unable to even process he was gone, let alone shout at him to wait yet again. _Did..._ As I could no longer even see him in the horizon, I confirmed that Hibari had, in fact, left the area practically without warning._ Did he just tell me all that so I wouldn't have to go with him...?_

"Sheesh, talk about anti-social..." I muttered, a somewhat awkward expression on my face. I mean, I didn't really want to accompany Hibari anywhere, but it still bothered me how he really didn't like anyone and preferred being alone: I could not understand that attitude at all. Did he not feel lonely? At least, in my case, I could not stand being friendless: eventually, I would just feel empty and depressed, wondering what I had done wrong for no one to like me; just the mere thought of it made me uncomfortable.

Hibari truly was the weirdest resident of Namimori, in all sorts of ways. "Ha-han?" I immediately turned around, my eyes wide in surprise at hearing the speech pattern I recognized well.

"K-Kikyo-san...!" I shouted out in relief, actual relief. "You didn't disappear after all!" It wasn't that I suddenly liked Kikyo: it was just that Kikyo had stuck around previously for a reason, and it was implied that he had to protect me 24/7 eventually; having someone like that disappear before said time came was nothing more than scary.

Even if he was sent by His Divine Presence, the fact that I'd be dead without Kikyo did not change: the same was applicable to the other Holy Protection that had come before Kikyo; for example, I panicked when Bluebell had disappeared. "Disappear?" he questioned, somewhat curious. "I merely decided to search for something whilst you executed your plan, with Byakuran-sama's permission." _What would you be searching for in this situation...?_

"Even so, couldn't you warn me before doing that...?! I thought I was done for!" Whatever it was that he was searching for surely wouldn't have as much priority as protecting me... unless it was part of some big evil plan His Divine Presence was exacting. _But if that was the real reason, I don't think Kikyo would be allowed to tell me what he did in the first place._ Despite the fact that he had vaguely explained everything, it still would've been better for His Divine Presence to have me not be informed of anything.

Besides, He'd already do that, so it wasn't like keeping me in the dark was anything new. "Ha-han, I didn't want to interrupt you while you were carrying out your own plans," Kikyo calmly responded, "Though, if it worried you that badly, I will do so from now on; with Byakuran-sama's permission, that is." _Damn it...!_ "However, even if I do disappear without warning, you have no need to fear for your safety: I would not have left you if there had been chances of you suffering any sort of attack."

_So you're saying I wouldn't have gotten attacked by those two guys...?!_ Seeing as I had quite the skeptic look on my face, Kikyo added, "Of course, said chances are gauged by either me or Byakuran-sama, so they are completely trustworthy." _I somehow doubt that..._ However, it still was true that His Divine Presence, being God and all that, would most likely have a better idea of what would happen to me than myself, especially since he could probably just look at the future or something like that.

Honestly, I was never truly sure of the extent of His Divine Presence's powers. "Okay..." Since I found it pointless to discuss the topic any further, I decided I was better off responding in such a way, even if I couldn't help but consider it pathetic that I basically needed Kikyo to do everything. It was the truth, unfortunately, and I had no means of changing it: I was nothing more than a normal girl in a group of weird people; what could I accomplish? Not much, at least not without divine help. "Uh, anyway, I'd like to go to Namimori Middle school."

... The fact that I was bound to His Divine Presence in such a way, as in, I literally could not do anything if not for Him, only served to, rather than angry, make me sad inside. I was already beyond the stage of raging at the fate I was locked on to, so there was nothing more I could express beyond sadness: the fact that it was pointless for me to go against something as powerful as God truly struck me hard. "Ha-han? Didn't you want to see Takeshi Yamamoto?"

"I'll do that after going there," I simply responded, having nothing more to say. _I hope he's doing alright..._ The only thing that made me think Yamamoto even remotely knew of the dangers he would face and was training for it was that he had gotten his ass kicked by Squalo; I hoped that was enough. _Where is he training anyway?_ I could only assume he was training with his weird baseball bat that could turn into a sword, but not where he was training with it.

Besides, was he alone or did he have someone else? After all, it seemed Colonello had the intention of training Ryohei and Dino had been practically assigned to train Hibari, so it wasn't unlikely that someone was training Yamamoto as well. "I see..." Kikyo only showed himself amused at my simple reply, something I was sure he hadn't expected; after all, I was usually a fairly awkward person (and being aware of it somehow didn't help me at all). Turning around, he said, "Well, as you wish."

With that, he started walking, presumably to Namimori Middle school. With a somewhat determined expression on my face, I followed behind him, though I also knew the way to the school from here. After all, while I wasn't fully familiar with everything in Namimori, I had been around for months already so I did know enough to travel around comfortably.

As I considered exploring more locations the next times I'd be able to take walks on my own, I briefly wondered just how strong Dino happened to be. If he was tasked to train Hibari, Dino had to be really strong: however, he just didn't look like it to me. Even so, if he could supposedly handle Hibari, a bloodthirsty super hero, I was better off assuming Dino was awfully strong. _Strange... You'd think Hibari would be all over him since he's supposedly that strong._

Maybe it was because Dino had gotten in the way of his fight with Squalo; he most likely prioritized that dangerous guy over Dino. _Whatever,_ I dismissed, finding it pointless to try to completely wrap my mind around how someone like Hibari worked. _I guess I should've considered myself really privileged for having someone like him wanting to train me... or something like that._ I smiled bitterly, not really meaning those words. _It's not like I can be as strong as everyone else anyway._ It wasn't a matter of effort; it was talent that I lacked.

Surely, no matter how hard I would try, I'd never become as strong as Hibari, especially when he was constantly evolving as well. Someone normal like me would never be able to reach such respectable level of strength and even if I did, I wasn't a fan of fighting so it wasn't like I greatly desired such power.

Going back to focusing on my surroundings, I looked up at the sky: it was clear, for the most part; only a few clouds were in sight. _Now that I think about it, who has the Cloud Ring?_ While Hibari had shown me his Half Vongola Ring, I hadn't been able to discern which of the rings it happened to be from the distance (since, of course, he would make more distance than necessary).

I focused on the clouds: they seemed to move slightly with each step I took, hanging in the sky in an almost carefree-looking manner. Afterwards, my eyes widened in realization.

_Yamamoto...!_ I concluded, still in awe. _At first, I thought he was the Sun Guardian but beyond him, who else 'has their head in the clouds'? No one!_ It had to be Yamamoto, it just had to be: Yamamoto was oblivious and carefree, and looked as harmless as the clouds on the sky while actually having his own strength. _Then, if he's Cloud, Ryohei's Sun for sure,_ I deducted, nodding to myself as it actually made perfect sense for someone like Ryohei to be the Sun Guardian.

Seriously, someone as extreme and passionate as Ryohei could not be anything but the Sun Guardian, so I couldn't help but find that I had definitely been stupid back then when I assumed Ryohei would be the Lightning Guardian of all things. _But wait, which one is Hibari...?_ With a pensive frown, I considered my options: the only rings left were the Lightning Ring, the Rain Ring and the Mist Ring. While Hibari was somewhat of a mysterious (or just very strange) existence, I found it doubtful that he was the Mist Guardian: there was nothing about him that was very hidden, and he did not make himself not stand out or anything of the sort; he just didn't match what mist would be.

Beyond that, there was Lightning and Rain: even if Lightning could fit because Hibari was super strong, Rain seemed more like a relentless stream of fast attacks, and it was as vile as Hibari in my perspective. With that in mind, I found it more than likely that Hibari was the Rain Guardian.

Smiling contently, I kept walking, finding that I had narrowed down quite a few of the Vongola Guardians:

As it was, Gokudera and Bianchi were the Storm Guardian(s), Yamamoto was the Cloud Guardian, Ryohei was the Sun Guardian and Hibari was the Rain Guardian; the only ones left were Lightning and Mist. I couldn't help but feel somewhat proud of myself for having been able to discover all of that on my own, even if I had no idea of who the other Guardians were. _I guess I'll just have to see..._

_For now, I should just focus on Dino,_ I decided, not wanting to suddenly change my priorities. Since I was going to school, I would most likely have to keep myself hidden, as I didn't want to be seen within school grounds while classes were in session. Besides, it would be the worst if someone I knew were to see me walking around; how would I explain my actions to them? Due to all these reasons, it would admittedly be troublesome if Dino happened to have disappeared; I frowned.

_Hopefully Dino's alright... and still on the same spot._

* * *

**. . .**

* * *

To my surprise, entering the school and not getting into trouble had been rather easy so far, even though I was treading through the hallways with a tall man wearing eyeliner behind me. After Kikyo took me to the school itself, I had basically become the one in charge of actually taking us where I wanted to go, which was the rooftop. _Please be there..._

As I walked through the hallway of the school building's third floor, I could tell classes weren't actually in session, as it was lunch break: because of that, it hadn't been too strange for the students in the third floor to spot an underclassman walking around. _I guess I was panicking for nothing..._ As for Kikyo, I had no idea why no one had asked anything about him yet, not that there were many people walking through the hallway anyway: most of the upperclassmen were either in their classrooms or out of the school.

At least Kikyo was silent, which did help making me worry less about him: just in case, I planned on pretending I didn't know Kikyo if someone asked. _Do I even know any upperclassmen beyond Ryohei and Hibari?_ As I thought of it, I only knew them, the weirdest in the school. _That's kind of sad.._. In my previous school, I was acquainted with a fair amount of upperclassmen: they weren't my friends, but I did know them somewhat.

Finding myself at the top of the stairs to the rooftop, I reluctantly opened the door... only to find exactly what I expected. Dashing to the side, I dodged Hibari and Dino, who I had almost collided with. _I guess this is a given, huh...!_ Hibari, with a focused gaze, was relentlessly attacking Dino, who seemed just as serious: it was quite the intense battle, I noted. Both of them hadn't even noticed me, which already proved how well things were going for Dino. "Uh...!"

I considered a way to get their attention with a troubled frown. _Maybe I shouldn't have come here..._ With an even more depressed-looking frown, I shouted, **"Hibari-sama!"** The high-pitched sound produced by my rarely used fangirl voice, as expected, had been enough for Hibari to immediately notice me, putting the fight to a stop. While Hibari was glaring at me darkly as if I'd done something unforgivable, Dino turned to me with a surprised expression. I cleared my throat. "Uh, I'm sorry, Hibari-san, but you told me I could talk to Dino-san, and I don't think I can do that whilst you're fighting so seriously."

The contrast between the fangirl shout and how politely I was speaking to Hibari clearly showed how much I had done that on purpose, hoping Dino would understand that as well (and not think I was some strange Hibari fangirl). "You're annoying," Hibari simply muttered, his glare still with the same intensity despite him being fully aware I did that because I had no other choice. _And you're a prick, how about that?_

While I wanted to say that, my survival instincts deducted I was better off keeping it to myself. "You agreed to this, Hibari-san," I pointed out again, hoping that would make him stop directing all of his killing intent at me; it was admittedly scary.

"Hmph, I know." With that, he lowered his tonfas and briefly closed his eyes, almost as if to take in the situation. Afterwards, with his usual disinterested expression and narrowed eyes, he said, "You've got 5 minutes. If you make me wait longer than that, I'll bite you to death." _Why does this guy have to act like he's the one in charge of everything...?_ It displeased me because Hibari would be the last person I would ever appoint to lead anything.

Either way, at least he wasn't biting me to death right away, which wasn't very far-fetched, actually: while Hibari was, in general, a prick, he at least seemed to follow through his own words; probably due to his pride, I noted. "_Attendez,_ I'm not sure I follow you guys," Dino spoke up, and turned to Hibari of all people for an explanation, "_Elle_ wanted to speak with me and had to ask you permission for it?" _He is talking about me, right...?_

Hibari glanced at me. "The clock's ticking," he uttered and walked over to a corner, making me notice that Romario was in the area as well. _He's counting?!_ I wasn't sure if Hibari had that kind of patience or if he was just trying to scare me, but I didn't want to figure it out either.

"Kyoya!" Seeing Hibari's lack of response despite having been called, Dino sighed as if somewhat tired before shifting his attention to me.

... I gave him a sympathetic look. "I see you're struggling," I commented, unsure of what else to say to something so understandably pitiful.

Dino chuckled nervously, most likely seeing through that. "Just _un peu,_" he informed (?) with a smile, "He doesn't listen to a word I say, _mais,_ whether he knows it or not, he's diligently training, which is _exactment_ what I want him to do." After those words, Dino seemed more confident, having cheered up: he was a fairly optimistic person, I noted. "_De toute façon,_ what did you want to talk to me about?"

"O-oh, well..." I paused, somewhat embarrassed. "I just wanted to c-check up on you, really. Tsuna and the others have to prepare for the Varia, so I'm trying to see if there's anything I can do to help out..." I looked to the side, a flustered expression on my face. _Awkward...!_ Overall, my words were utterly embarrassing since they expressed how I was actually wasting Dino's time more than anything due to not having any specific reason to be around.

Besides, I didn't just want to flat out suggest I was trying my best to be useful; it sounded... uncool. "I see..." At his response, I reluctantly glanced at Dino, only to barely see his hand about to make contact with the top of my head. "You've been working hard then." Dino was patting my head. Someone was patting my head. _Wha..._ In general, that sort of thing just wouldn't happen, so, stunned, I stared at him with wide eyes.

He was smiling warmly at me, leaving me to mentally take note of how much I was being treated like a child, which wasn't so surprising: Dino was an adult, after all, and I was still in middle school. Even so, I didn't really appreciate that, especially when he was doing something like patting my head. In general, physical contact like that just made me incredibly uneasy, and it was already terrible enough that I was experiencing something I usually wouldn't: since I happened to be tall for my age, not many people would think of patting my head, which was understandable.

"_Aprés tout,_ you've been checking up on everyone, haven't you?" I noticed Dino was still speaking, making me process the situation faster. "I guess I now know why you were at the hospital." After those words, Dino gave me a saddened smile, as if concerned with something. "While wanting to help your friends is a great thing, you shouldn't get too involved in this: I don't really know a lot about your circumstances, but what Tsuna and his Guardiens will face is too dangerous for you so don't push yourself too hard, _d'accord_?"

I would've been greatly affected by his words, since he seemed genuinely worried for my safety and was all around being an incredibly reliable person, if not for the fact that there was still something else in mind. It wasn't like I hadn't heard Dino though; I just gave his words slightly less importance than his actions.

"... Please stop patting my head," I requested, a troubled frown on my face as I did so.

Immediately, Dino retracted his hand from me while looking somewhat surprised; afterwards, he scratched his head with a sheepish smile. "Ah, _desolé;_ I didn't even notice that." _That's not very good...!_ I heard foreigners had barely any sense of personal space; was that actually true? Perhaps, I figured, it wasn't good to generalize an agglomerate of people from a person as strange yet nice as Dino. "But, you _as compris_ what I said, right?"

_I did what...?_ "Sure," I uttered, though I was still confused. As far as I could tell, he was talking about something he said previously, and I did hear his words well. _I hope what he said doesn't mean 'didn't hear' or something like that..._

"Good!" _Okay, it actually didn't mean something like that._ Even so, I hoped I had actually answered properly: I could've agreed to something terrible, like training with Dino, for example. Fortunately, since he was training Hibari, there were no chances of him actually asking that, as he had flat out told me so at the hospital. "A—"

"Are you done yet?" Hibari cut Dino off while walking towards us at a calm pace, looking slightly annoyed. "You better be; I'm tired of waiting." In other words, Hibari was totally going to bite me to death if I didn't stop talking to Dino.

_Have five minutes even passed?_ I couldn't tell, so there was no way to prove Hibari wrong; he probably knew that when he settled for it. _Bastard..._ "Kyoya, you don't have to be so impatient," Dino said, "It's not like I'll go anywhere."

"Shut up," Hibari uttered while swinging one of his tonfas at Dino, only for him to dodge it sideways; Hibari's eyes narrowed. Seeing as I was still around, Hibari shifted his gaze to me, making me flinch. "Your time is up, so don't crowd and go away." _How can only one person 'crowd' an area...?!_

While that was a very good question, I certainly did not want to risk my life for it, so I refrained from saying it out loud. Instead, I took a few steps back as if to show Hibari I really was leaving and saw Dino look at me apologetically. "_Au revoir,_" he said, "Sorry I couldn't talk to you that much; I'm kind of busy with Kyoya. Either way, everything's going _très bien_ here so you can leave without any worries."

I smiled at him, but before I could say any parting words, Hibari spoke up, "Who said you could keep talking to her? I'm going to bite you to death now so be quiet." With that, Hibari started attacking Dino repeatedly, making him have no choice but to focus on Hibari so as to defend himself.

With a blank gaze, I sighed. _I'll never understand Hibari..._ Glancing to the side, I spotted Romario waving at me with a kind smile. _I almost forgot he was there._ Awkwardly, I waved back before leaving the rooftop.

... As I descended the stairs, I noticed something was missing; I glanced behind me. _Where's Kikyo?! Not again!_ I quickly descended the stairs, knowing he hadn't been at the rooftop at all. "Ha-han?" I immediately turned to the side. "I see you've finished; I assume everything is going well?"

"Where were you?!" I asked, feeling somewhat frustrated. _I even told him to warn me, so why...?!_ What exactly did His Divine Presence want Kikyo to search for anyway? If it happened to be more important than protecting me, something He obviously took oh-so-seriously, I definitely wanted to know about it: it could lead me to the truth, after all.

Kikyo, as always, seemed unfazed by my question. "Ha-han? I was here, waiting for you. Where else would I be?"

"What...?" _So he wasn't gone?_ I stared at Kikyo confusedly, clearly waiting for an explanation. _Couldn't you have also warned you wouldn't be with me in the rooftop? And why wouldn't you be with me in the first place?!_

_... Not that I'd want you always with me..._ Even so, I did want to feel safe, and Kikyo was obviously synonymous to safety in my situation. "I was merely on stand-by, waiting for you to finish your business in the rooftop; I did not leave you," he repeated, elaborating on what he had previously said. "Though, if it truly does bother you when I am not at very close proximity to you, that can be arranged for; that was the original plan either way."

"N-no, that's alright!" I shook my head. "I was just surprised, that's all!" That was a lie since I had been quite angry as well, but I surely didn't want Kikyo to be that close by: if he could be on stand-by at a fair distance from me without any risk of me being in danger, I would never be dissatisfied. "Anyway, please lead on..." After all, I still didn't know where Yamamoto was, so I had to rely on Kikyo.

_I hope he'll actually take me where I want to go..._ So far, he hadn't been tricking me, but I could never let my guard down around someone as flawless as Kikyo when he happened to work for His Divine Presence. "Ha-han, alright." With that, he started walking as I followed behind him, assuming he was going to where Yamamoto was.

I mean, I didn't explicitly tell him any location, but I thought it was obvious I wanted to see Yamamoto after having attempted to do so before. Either way, I still found it amazing how the upperclassmen could just glance at Kikyo and I as if we were nothing special: maybe they assumed there were certain circumstances behind it and decided not to question anything; how mature.

As I went down the stairs to the second floor, I reminded myself of the fact that almost everyone I knew was skipping school so as to prepare for the Varia. _Well, except for Hana... I wonder how she's doing._ Since Kyoko seemed to have put up an illusion of herself in the school, Hana was at least not lonely. Even so, I felt regretful for having skipped classes and left her alone with an illusion. The worst part was that Hana actually had no idea of anything mafia-related, so she was even more in the dark than I was.

_I should call her or something of the sort after I've taken care of everything today,_ I thought, a pensive expression on my face. I happened to like Hana: she was the most normal of the girls, and while slightly intimidating, she was perceptive and absolutely reliable, making her a very good friend. In comparison, everyone was hiding things from her, including me, though it wasn't like we had a choice: none of us wanted to drag her into our affairs, and with good reason. _I bet she knows something's wrong; it doesn't take a genius to figure it out when everyone's skipping classes._

If I were in her position, I was sure I would also notice since it was fairly obvious: what wasn't obvious was the fact that it all had to do with prized mafia rings and professional mafia assassins (crazy ones, at that). Seriously, why were the rings so precious anyway? They were just rings. _Like this thing I'm wearing..._ I looked down at my right hand, immediately spotting the flashy ring I was made to wear: why was it so important? I didn't know that either. _Now that I think about it, how come no one pointed this out except mom?_ Maybe no one cared?

I mean, it truly wasn't in their place to say anything about my fashion choices, but I would've honestly wanted someone else to point out just how terribly showy it was. _Whatever..._ Finding myself with nothing else in particular to think about, I focused on my surroundings; I was already at the ground floor. _Huh, I didn't even notice..._

Suddenly, I heard my cellphone's ringtone and stopped in my tracks, slightly startled. As Kikyo also stopped walking, I took my cellphone out and saw in its screen, 'Haru'; I picked up the call. "Hello?" While I had spoken in a somewhat casual tone, on the inside, I was greatly worried for her well-being. Even if it wasn't anything new anymore, getting bitten to death still hurt a lot, and I did totally leave her there when I could've done something for her (Kikyo's charisma was scary).

"Hello; it's Haru!"_ I know that, but what's wrong...?!_ Since I was that worried about her, I found myself impatient as well, a serious expression on my face. "Since I'm now 100% alright, I've decided to check on what you wanted to talk to me about before!" _Oh..._

_... What did I want to talk to her about before again...?_ With all the things I had to do today, I had completely forgotten why I had even called her in the morning to begin with. "Uh..." _I think it was so I could know how everyone was doing...? Or something along those lines. Either way, I don't really need her help anymore._ "Well, I wanted to ask you about everyone's whereabouts at the time, but I'm fine now, so..."

"I see," she concluded, slight disappointment detectable in her voice. "Is there truly nothing else I can help you with?" With that question, I found myself deep in thought. _Anything else...? I mean, I technically don't need anything, but..._

_... I don't want to completely rely on Kikyo either._ After all, the reason I didn't need Haru's help was because Kikyo basically guaranteed that wouldn't be necessary from all his actions, mostly guiding me through every 'interesting' path on His Divine Presence's orders. "Well, do you know anything else about how Tsuna and the others are doing? I'd really like to know that."

"Everyone else? I know!" She seemed to have cheered up right away, making me feel slightly more relaxed; I didn't even know I was that nervous about Haru's emotions to begin with. "Since you've been with Hibari-san and that mysterious French-speaking Italian man, you already know about them, right?" _'Mysterious French-speaking Italian man...?'_

_She knows about Dino?!_ After that thought, my gaze went blank. _Actually, there's no way she wouldn't know, since she knows everything and all that..._ However, I wondered if she actually knew Dino personally. "Yeah..." I answered in an expectant manner, dragging out that word.

"Good! Then I'll move right on to the others!" I glanced at Kikyo, who was looking at me with a calm expression. While I really shouldn't have been surprised about that, Kikyo was unfazed with my actions as if he were that confident he could get everything under control; I guess there really was nothing wrong with relying on someone else. At least His Divine Presence wasn't restricting me in such a way, though I wouldn't have put that past Him, in all honesty. "Kyoko-chan and Hana-chan are at school, but everyone else didn't come." _She doesn't know about Kyoko?_

Did that mean illusions were more powerful than information-gathering? After all, I knew Kyoko was in Kokuyo, doing clearly suspicious activities with dangerous criminals. "This seems to be because they're all training for something, though I have yet to discover what it is. However, I think it's all related to that dangerous long-haired man from yesterday, whose information I've yet to uncover." _She can't find information about Squalo...?_ I never thought it would happen, but I knew more than Haru in this situation. "Either way, I'll do my best to figure it out, so you can count on me!"

Perhaps Kikyo wasn't bothered with what I was doing because he knew Haru wouldn't have as much information as he did; that thought unnerved me slightly. "Alright," I said, not wanting to make her sad by telling her I did know what was going on (while she, the All-Knowing Haru, didn't). "But, would you happen to know anything specific about everyone? As in, how they're doing right now? I've been meaning to visit Yamamoto-san, but if you know that he's doing okay, I might not need to intrude."

While it was with good intentions, it still was fairly intrusive to get in the way of everyone's training. I mean, I did feel like seeing Yamamoto, but I figured I was better off not letting my selfishness take over in that regard. "You want to know about Yamamoto-san? That's easy! He's in a dojo his family owns, training with his father." _His family owned a dojo?! Didn't they have a sushi shop instead?_

Did Yamamoto's family happen to own both for some reason? While I had heard of the sushi shop from Yamamoto, he never told me about any dojo. _Weird..._ Well, he never had any need to tell me about it, so it wasn't like I had any reason to complain. However, it was pretty convenient that his family somehow happened to own a dojo and that his father could also train him in his... baseball bat-sword arts. Why wasn't Yamamoto's father freaking out instead? "A-and he's doing alright?"

"I think so," Haru responded, as if finding the question somewhat strange, "Yamamoto-san's father is a talented swordsman, after all! Yamamoto-san must be doing great!" _His father is a swordsman?!_ I figured that was why he owned a dojo in the first place, but it was still shocking to hear Yamamoto actually had that sort of father._ And here I thought Yamamoto was only involved with innocent things like cooking and baseball...!_ I mean, I knew Yamamoto's baseball bat could turn into a sword (which Reborn had given to him), but I definitely didn't know he had family that could wield such weapons.

_Suddenly, I feel like not visiting Yamamoto..._ His father was there, and I was starting to think he probably wasn't as pleasant as Yamamoto. "I see..." I decided to be vague with my words, not even telling Haru whether I would see Yamamoto or not; for now, I was leaning on 'no'. "Well, uh, how about Tsuna?" _He's probably with Reborn, but there's no harm in asking._

"Tsuna-san is bravely climbing a really tall cliff near Namimori as training! As expected of my future husband, he can even pull such harsh training off; I must do my best as his future wife as well!" While Haru's response was cheerful and proud, my reaction was certainly not.

Immediately when I processed Haru's first sentence, I spat out, "What?!" _Is Reborn trying to kill him or something?!_ "H-he is wearing something to prevent himself from falling, right...?" I wasn't the most experienced person with climbing, but I was sure there was some sort of belt and rope used to make sure whoever was climbing would still be hanging even if they happened to slip up somewhere.

"None whatsoever!" The fact that Haru was somehow okay with her future husband doing that was highly disturbing, but I was more focused on the inherent danger Tsuna was in. _What the hell, that isn't training, that's suicide!_

_I mean, Tsuna might've done equally dangerous things before and survived getting crushed by a rock, but that still doesn't justify climbing a cliff like that!_ "Okay, uh..." I paused, not even sure of what to say. "I... I guess that's all I need to know." _Seriously, is Tsuna alright...?!_ "Um, I've got to go. We'll speak later, okay?"

"Oh, alright. I'm glad I was able to help you in some way!" I would've found myself smiling or reacting modestly to what Haru had said if not for the fact that Tsuna possibly falling from a cliff to his death was still stuck in my mind, practically haunting me. "Well, goodbye!" After that, Haru hung up, making me turn to Kikyo as I put the phone back in my bag.

_He's living with Haru..._ The mere thought made me cringe. "Ha-han? You seem distraught. Is something on your mind?" Kikyo wasn't asking that because he genuinely knew the answer, but because he was sure I was thinking about something.

With a concerned expression, I answered, "I've changed my mind." While the fact that Kikyo was living with Haru was a big deal, it was even bigger of a deal the fact that Tsuna was climbing cliffs. "Instead of Yamamoto-san, I'm going to see Tsuna."

"As you wish." He didn't even question anything about my decision, almost as if it weren't in his place to do so: the fact that he could be such a natural leader and such a natural subordinate whenever it was convenient was also one of the things that made me uncomfortable about Kikyo. Seriously, what were Kikyo's flaws? He was calm, reliable, charismatic, observant, polite...

It wasn't pleasant dealing with someone who could always best me, a mere mortal. While Kikyo had started walking, I followed him with a thoughtful expression. _Even though Haru said Yamamoto was alright, I kind of want to check on him anyway... but I wouldn't want to trouble him like that either if he's actually fine. What should I do...?_

As I left the school grounds, I started reaching out for my school bag (which I had stopped needing from the moment I had left for Haru's house). _Well, the only way not to interrupt whatever he's doing is by texting him, I guess..._ I honestly preferred talking to people directly, but it wasn't like texting was out of the question either, especially if it proved useful. _This isn't as good, but it'll do._

With fingers certainly not as used to texting as my old friends', I was able to write down a message, and it read:

"I heard you were training. Is everything alright on your end? I wanted to check on you, but I figured that would be intrusive. If there is anything you need help with, you can ask me. Do your best."

Admittedly, that took way too much time to write (and sounded pretty awkward), but cellphones were never for writing more than one or two sentences. Finding that good enough for the time being, I put my cellphone back on my school bag and focused on my surroundings once again with a worried gaze. _Tsuna..._

_... Why did you have to have a crazy baby assassin as your home tutor...?_

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

* * *

**Dino Glossary:**

Attendez - Wait

Elle - She

De toute façon - Anyway

Un peu - A little

Mais – But

Exactment - Exactly

Aprés tout - After all

Guardiens - Guardians

D'accord - Right, correct, something along those lines in that context

As compris - Understood (to understand in past tense)

Desolé - Sorry

Au revoir - Goodbye

Trés bien - Great

_"_But wait, why would Dino be talking to Dino about the Vongola rings?!_" - The Strange Land of Namimori, 2015_

Good question, Observer-chan, good question... XDD I'm still waiting for a mistake as good as 'So this is the extent of his Hibari', but I doubt something that epic will show up so easily by accident. Anyway, omg this chapter took so long to write! However, because of the hilarious character that is Hibari, I was able to get this done with: seriously, Hibari, Byakuran and Kyoko are like, the saviors of this story. With that in mind, this chapter was basically all about Hibari and almost no Yamamoto; I'm so sorry! ;_;

Even so, the fact that Hibari's number is the emergency number is great, though really unrealistic. Observer-chan thought she had to specify the location, but if you call an emergency number, the police station will know your location so it's not that necessary ^^' Either way, don't sweat those pesky details with a story as silly as this: personally, my headcanon for Hibari's number being the emergency number was that the Japanese government allowed for it due to his super hero duties XD That, or he just used his 'rich and powerful guy' priviledges; that's fairly plausible too... I'll just leave that to your imagination.

Also, Dino is such a great character to write in terms of personality, but the fact that he has to throw around French words makes me struggle a lot with him; even Basil is easier to deal with X.X Though, omg, Observer-chan failing at guessing everyone's flames is really funny to me, seriously: her logic makes sense, but that doesn't mean Yamamoto is the Cloud Guardian XDD As surprising as this sounds, I was planning on having Shamal in this chapter, but I just couldn't pull it off: while attempting to do so, I discovered just how bad I am at writing Shamal. I mean, it's not like there's anything complex about him, he's just a flirt, but he's still somehow hard to write!

Another character I planned on having in this chapter was Hana, but I also had to scratch that out because things would get really troublesome otherwise. Overall, all of my plans were swiftly stopped and I just ended up going with the flow, meaning that Observer-chan now wants to go to Tsuna and she just texted Yamamoto! You know, I miss Shouichi... and Zakuro... and Hana... and Bluebell... and so many other characters ^^' However, since I noticed I write Hibari a whole lot in this story, I stopped thinking I missed him, since he was always around, really: if anything, I just want to write him even more, I guess.

Whatever the case, look forward to the next chapter? We'll actually go see Tsuna there ^^


	70. Chapter 63,5

**First Words:**

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Don't forget to read Chapter 63! In general, if the latest chapter is an omake, there is a chapter before it, _always._

Whatever the case, I had been planning on this omake for a while, but I wanted to place it at the end of the day rather than in the middle. Unfortunately, since my plans made that impossible, I wrote it right now just so I wouldn't have to not have this around in the first place.

**Fun Facts:**

**\- Kikyo hadn't gotten what he bought here before because, in the street Observer-chan was at, there were no stores;**

**\- Although it may seem obvious, the other Holy Protection wasn't tasked with the same thing as Kikyo because they were in Kokuyo Land, which was very, very far away from any store and too dangerous to leave Observer-chan by herself. However, seeing as the Varia had yet to come and Byakuran felt like it, Kikyo had gotten assigned with this omake's events.**

Enjoy!

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**Chapter 63.5: Omake 6**

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... While I had wanted to reach Tsuna as soon as possible, I was suddenly making a detour to a convenience store. "Um, Kikyo-san...?" _This definitely isn't a cliff!_

"Ha-han? Is something wrong?" he asked, entering the store. Reluctantly, I followed behind him, though I was still pretty sure this wasn't Tsuna's location, and that we weren't going the right way.

However, that was definitely strange: Kikyo didn't seem like he had any intentions of guiding me the wrong way before. If anything, would it not be more pointless to His Divine Presence if we were suddenly going to a convenience store? "W-why... are we here?" With that in mind, there was no way I wouldn't ask that question, giving Kikyo a blank look while I did so.

"I have come here to search for something; surely you remember me mentioning that before?" _Now that he's talking about it..._ Kikyo had told me he was looking for something when I asked him why he had disappeared in that whole Hibari being the police situation, which I immediately assumed was something important he wasn't allowed to tell me about. _Though..._

_What kind of amazing thing would be hidden in a convenience store?!_ "Well, uh, what are you looking for?" There was simply no way something of great importance that could potentially be tied to His Divine Presence's master plans involving me would be in there, no matter how strange He happened to be. Due to that, I found myself considering that maybe Kikyo was looking for something completely different.

"Ha-han, that would be an offering of sorts," Kikyo calmly responded, an amused smile on his face, "for Byakuran-sama." Despite the fact that I had asked Kikyo to specify what he was looking for, he ended up being even more vague instead, and I knew he was doing that on purpose. Even so, I wasn't sure if that was because His Divine Presence was telling him to act like that or if Kikyo himself had chosen to do it, just to tease me.

Well, whatever it was he intended on doing, it was working since I was definitely curious about what sort of thing Kikyo was searching for. After a while of looking around the store, Kikyo stopped in his tracks and immediately looked towards a certain section, one that contained many, many sweets; I raised my eyebrow skeptically.

Then, almost as if having finished carefully considering something, Kikyo finally stretched out his arm towards a row of sweets, taking three bags at once. With a completely composed demeanor, he had just taken out three bags of _marshmallows._ _Huh...?!_ Before he could turn to the counter, I said, "W-wait, marshmallows...?!"

"Indeed," he simply answered and started walking, so I found myself following him with a surprised expression.

Still unconvinced, I asked, "Those bags are the 'offering' you were talking about? Why marshmallows...?!" The mere question was ridiculous so I grimaced, still taking note of the situation.

"Ha-han, according to Byakuran-sama, they are Humanity's best invention." Kikyo could somehow say that with a straight face, elegantly dropping the bags for the cashier to hold. "Byakuran-sama is quite fond of sweets, you see." _A-are you serious...?_

That smile and overall reliable presence did not lie (for now): what he was currently paying for was definitely, without a doubt, the 'offering' to His Divine Presence that Kikyo had been looking for. "M-marshmallows...?"

"Indeed," he responded; I wondered if even he thought we were in a silly situation. Somehow, Kikyo's offering was more important than Tsuna, who was climbing cliffs. _Somehow,_ that danger was nothing compared to what Kikyo was bothering to buy for His Divine Presence, despite the fact that Him, as God, could spawn as many damned things as he desired.

**. . .**

... As he had finished his purchase, Kikyo and I walked out of the store. Having just processed possibly the stupidest detour of my life, I stared at Kikyo blankly. "M-marshmallows..."

"Indeed."

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**Author's Notes:**

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I think this might just be the best omake I've written XDD Byakuran never fails to deliver, I see! Not that it surprises me, since he's part of this story's Holy Trinity (Hibari, Kyoko and Byakuran). Of course, Kikyo also made everything a trillion times better, since he totally was aware of how ridiculous it all was.

While Kikyo sometimes drives me to madness whilst writing a chapter because he just has to be around with barely any exceptions, I do like his personality somewhat: I really wish KHR had left some time to actually develop the Funeral Wreaths; while Bluebell got some backstory in the light novels, the others weren't so lucky.

Whatever the case, look forward to the next chapter? ^^


End file.
